


Attachment Theory

by markerlimes (sunmi)



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Canon Compliant, M/M, Magical Realism, Soul Bond
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-25
Updated: 2014-08-25
Packaged: 2018-03-01 23:07:18
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 23,301
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2791070
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/sunmi/pseuds/markerlimes
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Even before the matching bruises and the couple rings, Chanyeol thinks he might have been Kyungsoo’s soulmate all along. A remix of EXO’s history from debut to now with a dash of magical realism.</p><p>warnings: minor mentions of underage alcohol consumption, minor mentions of the lawsuit and the events leading up to it</p><p>for chingulinexchange 2014!</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Fall 2010---Winter 2012

 

  
The new vocal trainee isn’t much to fawn over. Then and again, they rarely ever are.

First off he’s pretty short, maybe even shorter than Jinho. The way he walks is a little reserved, but that’s nothing new either. All the new trainees either come in on their first day bursting with energy and ambition, or meandering around hopelessly lost. The new kid looks like he’ll be the latter. He comes in on his first day dressed in black from head to toe like a ninja trainee instead of a future idol. If Chanyeol were a bit more mean spirited, he wouldn’t have hesitated to make Naruto jokes to his face.

“Give him a chance,” Jinho says, idly picking at his rice. There isn’t much in the bowl to begin with and Chanyeol watches him pathetically try to make the few remaining grains last as long as possible.

“Why though? Shouldn’t you be trying to get rid of him?” Chanyeol teases. There’s no heat behind his words though. The news has barely been out for a day and yet all of SM from the managers to the newest trainees know that Cho Jinho is set to debut with a new group.

“It’s just a project group ,” Jinho corrects with an embarrassed smile. Chanyeol knows deep down that Jinho is over the moon with this news though. He just tries to hide it. “Who knows if it’ll even last?”

“Now you’re just being pessimistic,” Chanyeol shoots back, taking a bite of his own meal. Jinho watches him swallow an actual mouthful a little enviously.

“Maybe, but I’m not worried about him,” Jinho contemplates. His chopsticks settle on the edge of his plate with a light cling. “Besides he’s a good kid. I wouldn’t mind debuting with him you know, as opposed to some of the others.”

“Some of the others being?” Chanyeol poses seriously. Jinho laughs.

“You know who I’m talking about,” he shrugs. The inner politics of traineehood go on and on. Another vocal trainee accepted into SM presents another threat regardless of how green they are. Chanyeol is lucky that good rappers in SM in comparison are few and far between. He doesn’t want to get ahead of himself and say he’s already a shoe-in for debut, but a highlight in an SNSD MV carries its own weight.

“So what makes this kid different?” Chanyeol prods. He’s just trying to make small talk at this point to ignore the burning of sore muscles in his thighs for as long as he can. Lunch hours and their measly breaks are barely enough to give their muscles and battered bodies the recuperation time they need.

“He’s nice,” Jinho comments after a slight pause. “A little weird, but in a good way.”

“I’m weird in a really good way,” Chanyeol says in the face of Jinho’s skepticism. “Also really nice and handsome and tall.”

The last bit manages to wring a chuckle out of Jinho.

“How do you always manage to make everything about yourself?” Jinho sighs and Chanyeol shoots him a cheeky grin.

“It’s a talent,” he replies, shoveling down the last bit of his food. Jinho watches him with a pained expression.

“Sure whatever,” he sighs. “But you should give the new kid a chance though. He’s very-”

Chanyeol doesn’t hear the end of Jinho’s sentence. It’s not like he does normally with Jinho’s strange habit of half-mumbling and then trailing off before he completes his thought, but this time there’s something different. There’s a strange tugging in his chest, a fine fiber of attention that’s been snagged out of his hands and hooked taut like a fishing line. It pulls the breath out of his chest inexplicably, and Chanyeol turns his head in confusion, trying to sense out the direction of the pull.

The feeling is strong, undeniable as it clings onto Chanyeol’s senses, but finding it is as fruitless as peering into the ocean where a fishing line disappears and expecting to find the lure. The movement of SM trainees flows in and out of the cafeteria like waves. The world rocks back and forth like Chanyeol is on a boat and the only thing holding him on board is that lifeline tugging for him to follow.

“Chanyeol?” Jinho’s voice cuts in. He sounds far away, almost like an echo and Chanyeol vaguely registers that he’s somehow standing up now. He trips over something, someone, he’s not sure anymore and keeps wading his way forward until just as abruptly as the tugging began, it’s over.

“Chanyeol?!” Jinho yells again over the din of the cafeteria noise and Chanyeol blinks, coming out of his strange trance. He’s maybe made like four steps out of his chair and when he comes to, he realizes that he’s standing on top of the cafeteria bench in front of another set of trainees. A quick look behind him reveals another flustered trainee that Chanyeol may or may not have just stepped on.

“Umm,” he mumbles intelligently in the face of indignation when Jinho pulls him down with a well-timed yank.

“Sorry about that,” Jinho mumbles, bowing to the other trainee who instantly narrows his eyes in recognition. Chanyeol opens his mouth to apologize too when Jinho shoves him in the opposite direction with a surprising amount of force for someone so proportionally tiny.

“You win, okay?” Jinho says hurriedly, pushing Chanyeol away from the amused chuckles around them. “You’re really fucking weird.”

 

 

 

 

The sensation keeps Chanyeol up at night. By then, it’s no longer a boat rocking lurch but more of a subtle thrum. It doesn’t drag Chanyeol along with its movement this time. It’s just simply there, humming along with the ticks of the alarm clock beside his bed.

He tosses in bed the entire night and the one time he’s yanked awake is by the unmistakable urge to pee. It’s not uncommon to be sleep deprived as a trainee, but by the time the sun rises Chanyeol stumbles out of bed feeling shittier than regular levels of sleep deprived shit.

“Do you think you might be sick?” Joonmyun asks, peering into Chanyeol’s eyes seriously as he stumbles into the SM building late. Chanyeol shrugs but before he knows it, Joonmyun pulls out a thermometer.

Several beeps later, a reading of 37 degrees ruled out sickness and Chanyeol glares at the thermometer like it’s betrayed him. He doesn’t get the day off and the most he gets as consolation is Joonmyun doting around him with these soft concerned sighs.

“Maybe it’s homesickness,” Joonmyun concludes after lunch when Chanyeol eats no more than two bites of his food, too distracted by the possibility of the invisible tug again. It makes no sense seeing as Chanyeol still lives at home, but he just shrugs. It’s easier to let Joonmyun believe what he wants rather than nitpick with him over something that can’t be explained in the first place.

 

 

 

 

The supernatural pull dies down to a simmer for the next few days, but when it surges up again it spares Chanyeol no mercy. It hits Chanyeol just as he stumbles out of dance practice, feeling properly destroyed both mentally and physically. His feet ache, his thighs ache, everything aches.

But the invisible line goes taut again, drawing the already short breaths out of his body in one swift yank. Suddenly the fatigue plaguing his entire body vanishes leaving Chanyeol with nothing but a sheer single-mindedness to find what’s at the end of the string.

It’s late and luckily the perpetually crowded hallways of SM are beginning to thin out. It makes the rocking sensation much lighter, dampening down to a gentle back and forth sway. Luckily for Chanyeol, it doesn’t give him tunnel vision either making it much easier to weave through the hallways.

The sensation gets tighter and tighter, clenching down on Chanyeol’s lungs when he finally finds himself in front of a door. His mind barely registers the cold metal of the knob in his hand before he pushes in. The sensation lifts like it never existed, leaving Chanyeol stranded in the room. He stands around aimlessly as his lungs fill back up with disappointment. The room is empty upon first glance when a dry cough from the corner catches his attention.

“Can I...help you?” the voice asks and Chanyeol whirls around to see the tiny ninja kid, looking at Chanyeol like a foreign entity. To be fair, Chanyeol must look like a mess, sweaty and sticky, fresh from dance torture.

“I’m good,” Chanyeol croaks out, throat suddenly dry. He coughs a little, trying to clear it and the kid dressed in black resumes packing, seemingly intent on ignoring Chanyeol’s existence.

“Wait,” Chanyeol calls out for some reason and ninja kid perks up again, looking ruffled. It’s a refreshing turn of events for sure.

“You know Jinho right?” Chanyeol asks slowly, not entirely sure where he’s going with his train of thought. “What’s your name?”

“Do, Do Kyungsoo,” the guy replies, his eyes wide. Even from across the room, Chanyeol can see the whites of his eyes expanding until Chanyeol isn’t sure if he’s just been greeted or challenged to a staring contest.

It’s creepy.

“Park Chanyeol,” he offers, widening his own eyes to their limits. The effect is probably a little comical and Do Kyungsoo laughs in response. The corner of his lips quirk up for the slightest moment and Chanyeol’s breath hitches, yanked forward by the same strange sensation..

“It’s nice to meet you,” Kyungsoo says. His next words seem hesitant almost. “I take it you’re a trainee. What do you do?”

“I’m a main vocal,” Chanyeol lies through his teeth and Kyungsoo instantly pulls back a little.

“With a voice like that?” Kyungsoo murmurs a little skeptical. He probably didn’t mean to say it out loud with the way he immediately looks regretful. Chanyeol just keeps staring at him.

“What’s wrong with my voice?” Chanyeol teases. “Are you gonna tell me to go be a rapper?”

“No. No, not at all,” Kyungsoo apologizes quickly, bowing his head low. Too low for Chanyeol’s tastes. It’s never fun when people take him too seriously, but he’s willing to cut the new guy some slack.

“That’s a pity,” Chanyeol shrugs. Kyungsoo’s eyes go even wider as he looks up at Chanyeol in confusion. At this point Chanyeol can't tell if he's acting weird or just plain slow.

“The funny thing is, I am a rapper,” Chanyeol admits with a chuckle. The look on Kyungsoo’s face is wary, like he’s unsure if Chanyeol is playing him for another round. “You should always go with your gut instinct.”

“Gut instinct huh,” Kyungsoo muses. He’s not smiling like Chanyeol hoped he would.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol drawls out, feeling the awkwardness settle around them. “It was a joke,” he tacks on for emphasis.

“I got that,” Kyungsoo says and Chanyeol watches him cram a few more music sheets into his bag. He shoots Chanyeol a strange look before continuing to pack.

“Are you heading home?” Chanyeol asks, trying not to sound too desperate or stalkerish. By the look on Kyungsoo’s face it probably came off as a little bit of both.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo replies evenly. “Sorry to be like this, but I have to catch the train back home and I don’t want to be too late.”

He shuffles, side stepping Chanyeol to leave when Chanyeol catches his arm. The sensation tugs again, licking at his chest like a small flame sparked to life with the initial contact. Chanyeol closes his fingers around Kyungsoo’s arm and for a second he’s sure Kyungsoo is going to throw him off. But instead he leans into Chanyeol’s touch. The movement is so subtle, so slight that Chanyeol wonders if he’d imagined it, but the shock in Kyungsoo’s already wide eyes betrays the motion itself.

“Sorry about that,” Kyungsoo says sheepishly, detaching Chanyeol’s arm from his own after a beat. Yet even after that he doesn’t move on immediately, instead choosing to linger by the doorway.

“Yeah,” Chanyeol replies, running a hand through his still sweaty hair. There’s madness, a brief second of irrationality running through his veins that he chalks up as a byproduct of lack of sleep. “I actually have to head back too.”

The look Kyungsoo gives him is incredulous but it’s also a little hopeful, and it gives Chanyeol the confidence he needs to keep going.

“Do you mind if we ride together?”

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo, as it turns out, lives a mere two stations away from Chanyeol. Their fingers trace the metro map together, sliding down the same red trail from Apgujeong station back home. Kyungsoo shoots him a funny look when Chanyeol’s finger passes his, but he stays silent.

They shuffle on, catching the subway right after the bulk of traffic hour is over. It’s empty enough for them to get their own compartment. Chanyeol takes it as a blessing given how sweaty he still is.The cool steel of the railing against his back is a relief against the humid Seoul afternoon. If there were more people around, he’d feel a lot more self-conscious about how he smells.

Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to mind though. He takes a seat next to Chanyeol, leaning into his arm again as Chanyeol pulls out his iPod.

“Got anything good?” Kyungsoo wonders aloud, gesturing towards Chanyeol’s music player. It’s an old relic by the standards of mp3 players, but it’s Chanyeol’s most dependable friend when he needs it.

He flicks it on, passing an earbud over to Kyungsoo. “I hope you like Outsider.”

Kyungsoo beams. His smile is oddly ugly for someone so cute and it gives Chanyeol the answer he needs as he presses play and lets the music wash over them both.

 

 

 

 

The next few weeks go by strangely peaceful. Jinho begins disappearing off to prepare for his impending debut and in his place, Kyungsoo begins to show up with a bright smile and ruffled hair each morning.

“Morning,” Chanyeol waves as Kyungsoo shuffles onto the train with his bags. He hands Chanyeol a pack of Lotte snacks before plopping down on the seat beside him. Their hands brush together briefly and even while he’s half asleep Chanyeol registers the spark between them. The sensation in him has died down to a mere tickle ever since he and Kyungsoo rode home together that first day, but every now and then he’ll get sparks like this, fizzling between them with the near promise of fire.

“Man, you are new,” Chanyeol laughs, accepting the treat anyways. “Don’t you know we’re supposed to be watching our diets already?”

“I’m thinking ahead,” Kyungsoo replies simply, “Let me enjoy what I can when I can.”

“That’s if we debut though,” Chanyeol reminds him and Kyungsoo smirks back to him. He’s full of surprises when Chanyeol is least expecting them.

“True. I guess that’s if  _we_  debut at all,” Kyungsoo says and Chanyeol isn’t sure if he misheard the emphasis in Kyungsoo’s sentence.

They part ways once they reach the building. Chanyeol has a separate schedule for rapping practice and from the looks of Kyungsoo’s schedule and Jinho’s disappearances, it’s not nearly as rigorous as what the vocal trainees go through.

Regardless it’s still a pain in the ass on top of their school work. Some trainees drop out of school to concentrate on their talents, but Chanyeol can’t imagine ever doing the same. It’s too risky to put all his eggs in one basket on the off chance that he never debuts. It’s enough that Yura is already doing well for the whole family, but Chanyeol doesn’t want to be the disappointment child on top of everything he already is.

It’s nice to learn that Kyungsoo shares his thoughts. He’s got an older sibling too and like Chanyeol, he’s not ready to let idol life be the only one he knows. Music is the shared string between them and with each train ride home Chanyeol learns more and more of how similar their tastes align.

“I feel replaced,” Jinho comments offhandedly one rare day when he has enough time to grab lunch with all of them again. Chanyeol answers him with a teasing poke.

“It’s not a replacement if you got promoted and left me in the first place,” Chanyeol laughs and Jinho offers him a wry smile back. Joonmyun sits across from them today, poking at his food and offering Kyungsoo advice. To their left, Sehun and Jongin are giggling about something they found on Naver. Chanyeol takes a second to appreciate his surroundings and thinks he wouldn’t mind debuting like this.

 

 

 

 

A year passes in and out of their busy schedules. Sehun grows at least another 5 cms and Joonmyun gains nothing but a stubborn wrinkle etched in his forehead which causes him another wave of stress within itself.

Jinho returns from SM the ballad a little wiser, but still short as ever. Both he and Kyungsoo haven’t grown at all. It works out perfectly for Chanyeol who can sling one tiny vocalist in each arm and walk down the street leaning on them like a pair of tiny crutches.

“I’m gonna kill you some day,” Kyungsoo tells him when he leans all of his weight on the two of them and kicks his feet up into the air. Jinho gives him a pained smile which turns into an encouraging one at Kyungsoo’s suggestion.

“I like this idea,” Jinho says as Kyungsoo turns around to face Chanyeol head on. “Do it for me Kyungsoo-yah. Think of all of our short pain together.”

Kyungsoo looks contemplative and a little too murderous for Chanyeol’s tastes.

“He called you the maknae the other day,” Jinho adds, fueling Kyungsoo’s rage. “He said even if Sehun and Jongin debut with us, you’d be so short that you would be the maknae anyways.”

Kyungsoo’s eyes snap up in outrage before narrowing down to dangerous slits.

“It was a joke. No one will mistake you as the maknae,” Chanyeol reassures him, but the grin on Jinho’s face is enough for Kyungsoo to shove them both away.

“Kyungsoo-yah,” Chanyeol calls sprinting out of Kyungsoo’s rampaging path. Kyungsoo chases him down the street with outstretched arms as Chanyeol keeps turning back to laugh. “I’m sorry!”

He ducks behind Jinho who gets the full brunt of Kyungsoo’s tackle as it brings them all to the floor laughing and wheezing. Chanyeol’s back hits the cement with a crack and it hurts so badly for a second that all he can do is lie there on the pavement, winded. It hurts, but Chanyeol thinks that it’s a good thing he ended up on the bottom of their giant pile. Chanyeol’s weight would have surely broken at least one of Jinho and Kyungsoo’s precious vocalist ribs.

He rolls his head back in pain, feeling the bones grate in his neck. The sky above them is gold, casted in lovely rays that stretch the horizon a pale pink. It’s mesmerizing and for a second all Chanyeol can do is laugh in wonder with how careless and light he feels. He’s still laughing through the pain when Kyungsoo’s owly grin enters his vision from above, offering a hand to Chanyeol. He pulls him up with surprising strength and Chanyeol gives his back a sore rub. It takes him a second to notice that Kyungsoo is doing the same.

“This is what you get,” Chanyeol laughs despite Kyungsoo’s threatening pose and Jinho’s squably pleas for mercy between them. His fingers rub into his battered back and Kyungsoo inexplicably winces too.

“Are you two hurt?” Jinho asks, immediately looking concerned.

“Nah I’m good,” Chanyeol answers, snickering as Kyungsoo still looks confused. “You might wanna check up on grandpa over there though.”

“Okay wisecrack,” Jinho shrugs, rolling his own shoulder with a slight wince. “Let’s go home.”

“We might need to get grandpa Kyungsoo a wheelchair first,” Chanyeol grins as Kyungsoo continues to run a hand down his own back in confusion. Kyungsoo raises his other fist threateningly as if challenging Chanyeol to repeat himself.

“A what?” Kyungsoo asks quietly. Jinho shakes his head even though he knows its useless.

Chanyeol opens his mouth to answer when Kyungsoo beats him to the punch by tackling him into the ground again.

It’s dark by the time Jinho leaves them and the two of them shuffle back to Apgujeong station with a few bruises and scrapes. Chanyeol pulls out his wallet when Kyungsoo gives him an expectant look and orders takoyaki for two.

 

 

 

 

In September another crop of trainees drop out, citing mental fatigue and pressure from parents. All the usual.

Chanyeol isn’t perturbed though. As strange as it sounds, it’s energizing to be around Kyungsoo who is as pragmatic about trainee life as they come. Every train ride home becomes less about sharing music in near silence between the two of them and more about uncovering each other’s pasts instead.

In time Chanyeol learns that Kyungsoo has a best friend by the name of Lim Hyunsik, has loved music since grade school and thinks if he doesn’t debut by the time he’s 24, his parents will pull him out of this rat race of an industry. Chanyeol in comparison has to address his history with ferrets, courtesy of old CyWorld posts that should have never seen the light of day, and hasn’t thought long enough about the possibility of  _not_  debuting to know what his parents will do. Kyungsoo scoffs at that, already filling in for Jinho’s anti-Chanyeol’s ego role, and tells him not to worry his pretty head about it too much.

As if in reaction to the drop in trainees, SM staff start making vague announcements about a series of tests and screening trials for the remaining trainees. It doesn’t really bother Chanyeol until the rumors of a new group debuting start to kick up. It’s been 3 years since SM’s last boygroup and following F(x)’s debut, it’s only natural that the next group to debut will also be a boygroup.

By midday the air is buzzing with anticipation. They’re all smiles on the surface, gleaming teeth and bowed backs presented to each other to hide the ambition in their eyes. No one is fooled though and Chanyeol thinks vaguely that it’s not a bad precursor to have.

He texts Kyungsoo that night, wondering if the news made him just as restless. Kyungsoo texts back almost immediately and even though his texts are short, almost telegraphic in their length, Chanyeol can still read the worry between the characters. There’s excitement too, charged between each one of their exchanges. Chanyeol spends the night, thumbing his phone wondering if he should just call.

Yura peeks in, a worried crease on her forehead when the lights in Chanyeol’s room are still on when she gets up for her early shift.

“You’re up early,” she comments dryly as Chanyeol scrambles off the bed to pick his blankets off the floor.

“I am,” Chanyeol laughs, rubbing his eyes. The clock beside his bed reads 4:48AM and it dawns on him that Kyungsoo is still up at this hour too. Yura looks decidedly unimpressed.

“Don’t be late for-” she starts and Chanyeol beams. It’s supposed to be disarming, but Yura is his sister and she uses the exact same tactic to avoid curfew punishments from their parents. She frowns, plopping down on the mattress beside him, and smooths down the bedsheet.

“Well,” she prompts when Chanyeol turns his back to her childishly. She runs a hand, fond and comforting, down his shoulder like they’re children again. Chanyeol milks the sympathy for as long as he can until she spot his phone clutched between his fingers and misinterprets everything.

“Ahhh,” she sighs. “Don’t be too sad, Chanyeol. You’ll have tons of pretty girls after you when you’re famous.”

He snickers into his blankets, softly at first but then louder until Yura sees straight through his bluff and smacks him on his back,  _hard_.

“Forget it,” she groans, pushing Chanyeol playfully. “You’re going to be single forever.”

 

 

 

 

The train ride to SM in the morning is oddly tense between the two of them the next day. They plug an earbud in each and let Beenzino’s tracks do the talking for them.

The SM building is no better. Overnight the air in the entire building has gone restless as the rumors keep circulating back and forth. It’s suffocating, like being in a room with no ventilation with the same news recycled back and forth, passed between hushes whispers and hopeful voices. The humidity of promise clings to their lungs, like a dense fog no one wants to outright acknowledge.

Sehun of all people brings it up late in the evening when they’re all dead tired and trying to catch the last few trains home.

“Do you guys think you’ll debut?” he starts softly. His eyes are downcast. “Do you think SM will actually debut a new boygroup?”

It’s a rare moment for them to talk about it this so openly. Chanyeol watches Kyungsoo tense under the weight of the question. As if linked together, Chanyeol feels the same tension fizzle in his own chest. Of course they all want to debut, but it’s just not possible for them all to debut.

“I try not to,” Joonmyun admits. He’s been here long enough to be immune to news like this. Chanyeol thinks idly that maybe the frantic air of possibilities and crushed dreams doesn’t get to Joonmyun anymore, because in the end hope will always make disappointment hurt infinitely more.

There’s an awkward pause between them as Chanyeol slings his bag over his shoulder and steers Kyungsoo out the door with his other hand. It’s enough to have the question and its uncertainty eat on their mind so constantly. They don’t need anymore wild speculation.

“It’s a good thought to have,” Joonmyun says finally, as Chanyeol is exiting the door. “Just work hard for now and everything will work out. I promise.”

 

 

 

 

Chanyeol works hard, harder than he has ever in his life. His rapping is steadily improving, but it’s his dancing that’ll be the death of him for sure. He spends extra hours practicing into the night, accompanied by a just as concerned Kyungsoo.

As for Kyungsoo, his vocal lessons are going well and at this rate Chanyeol wonders idly if Kyungsoo will be the one debuting without him. It’s not a thought he can stomach though and in the few spare waking hours he has, Chanyeol begins to worry. It’s almost as bad as the invisible tug when it comes to keeping him awake at night.

“You look alive,” Sehun comments one sleepy morning. Beside him Jongin is swaying in his feet, maybe asleep, maybe awake. No one is ever sure.

He’s awake when the music comes on and that’s what counts in the end. They’re going through dance routines when Chanyeol finally realizes that Kyungsoo and a few other boys who normally aren’t in this block of dance practice have filed into the room.

He shoots Kyungsoo a questioning look and gets one just as confused back. Even Joonmyun who normally has a good understanding of everything that’s going on appears a little flustered. No one in the room except the dance instructor seems to have any inkling of what’s going on.

Chanyeol does a quick headcount: 12, not including the SM staff members. The current rumors floating around hint at a group of 7, maybe one even as big as 9, but 12 seems to be pushing it a little. Among the trainees Chanyeol knows well there’s also a good number of foreign trainees. He spots Lu Han and a dancer by the name of Yixing besides him looking just as perplexed as Chanyeol feels.

They’re an odd mix of trainees and judging by the way the entire group looks confused, Chanyeol isn’t the only one thinking it. It’s too early for a debut announcement, but there’s still the undeniable spark of excitement in his gut, wondering if this is it.

The shred of excitement turns into a full blown fire, sparked by the entrance of none other than Lee Sooman himself through the double doors. The clouds on the curtain part as another good chunk of SM staff enter the room.

This  _is_  it, Chanyeol thinks, bowing swiftly. From behind him, he sees his own triumphant expression painted on Kyungsoo’s face.

 

 

 

 

The train ride home is silent. They’re both maybe still a little in shock when Chanyeol finally yanks his earbuds out when the train is a station away from Kyungsoo’s stop. Kyungsoo gives a little jump at the sudden motion, waving his hands in front of his face like he doesn’t know what to do with them.

“Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol says a slow smile spreading across his face. “I think we’re going to debut.”

Kyungsoo looks relieved, overwhelmed almost. His lips twitch like he doesn’t know whether to laugh or cry, but Chanyeol grabs his face in his hands and decides for him, smushing his cheeks upwards. At that, Kyungsoo lets out a laugh and breaks out of Chanyeol’s grasp.

His grin is infectious with how unashamedly pleased it is. In the time Chanyeol has known Kyungsoo he’s seen him smile in two distinct ways. One for the cameras, a pleased smirk that shows off just enough of his teeth to be handsome and charming. One for himself, when he smiles so widely he bares all of his gums and the smile itself scrunches his cheeks into unattractive bulges.

The latter is Chanyeol’s favorite.

“God, I didn’t think,” Kyungsoo starts but Chanyeol cuts him off with a jubilant yell.

“Good, stop thinking and let’s go celebrate.” Chanyeol hollers into the air and Kyungsoo takes a careful look behind them to make sure no one is watching. He leans into Chanyeol, suffocating him with a giant hug Chanyeol didn’t even know he was capable of.

“I’m so glad,” Kyungsoo admits breathlessly and Chanyeol smiles back into his shoulder, feeling lightheaded with the news.

“Me too,” Chanyeol snickers, pulling him off the train in a rush to head back. “I can’t wait to see the look on Jinho face. C’mon Kyungsoo let’s go celebrate, we’re gonna fucking debut.”

 

 

 

 

Jinho is not in the dorm that Chanyeol moves into the following Spring nor is he anywhere in the SM building for the following four months when EXO are officially preparing to debut.

There’s 12 of them in total, 2 sub-units of Korean and Mandarin, and Chanyeol has never been gladder to have Kyungsoo at his side even though he knows most of them.

Joonmyun has been a trainee at SM for years. The casual passing joke among trainees is that Joonmyun is almost as old as the SM building itself. Sehun too has been a presence between Chanyeol and Joonmyun even back when he was shorter than Joonmyun and of course there’s not a single SM trainee that doesn’t know about SM’s golden boy, Jongin who’s basically conjoined at the hip with Taemin even when Taemin is overseas promoting with the rest of SHINee.

Chanyeol had met Baekhyun months ago and it only now strikes him how oddly like Jinho he looks. Baekhyun is nothing like Jinho though. He’s loud, annoyingly enthusiastic and 100% Chanyeol’s type except for the fact that he’s neither Jinho nor Kyungsoo and he seems to already have a serious thing for a certain SNSD member.

That just leaves their M counterparts, who Chanyeol is as much intrigued by as he is wary of them. Zitao is friendly enough, greeting them all in eager Korean that Chanyeol has trouble deciphering. Yixing is a little strange, but he dances in the way Chanyeol wishes he could. Jongdae is sweet and the mischievous quirk of his lips leaves Chanyeol wanted to know him better. He hasn’t trained for very long, but in Chanyeol’s opinion that only seems to give more weight to his talents. Minseok’s status as the eldest of all of EXO makes Chanyeol hesitant to approach him in general. He’s still pleasant enough if a little introverted and Chanyeol gets the feeling that he and Minseok will get along just fine so as long Chanyeol showers at least once a day.

Kyungsoo for the most part seems pretty pleased with the outcome. If he’s unsettled, it’s for different reasons altogether.

Chanyeol catches him one day, talking to Jinho of all people. Chanyeol freezes at the doorway, not sure how to approach either of them. Jinho had texted him congratulations the night he found out about EXO, but beyond that they haven’t talked since.

“Sometimes it happens,” Chanyeol hears Jinho says with a small smile. “You freeze and you move on. It gets easier with time.”

Kyungsoo murmurs something back gratefully and Jinho shakes his head. “Don’t worry about me. You have a debut to worry about now. I’m sure I still have opportunities coming. Don’t count me out yet.”

It’s the most optimistic thing Chanyeol has ever heard him say. Numbly, Chanyeol backs out of the doorway completely unseen, and wonders what a braver person would have done.

EXO debuts in a month. In due time, Chanyeol won’t have time to sleep, let alone look back.

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo watches the squares on the calendar fly by with a sort of uncanny dread like he’s counting down to doomsday rather than their long awaited debut. There’s an unsettled feeling hovering above them all- a back and forth mantra of-  _you’re going to debut, debut, debut. now don’t’ fuck it up, fuck it up, fuck it up._

The wariness gnaws on and by the 7th teaser, all of them with the exception of Jongin, have trouble sleeping. Kyungsoo in particular begins sleeping less and less, dark eye bags stretched around his eyes as thin as his patience, and as a result it keeps Chanyeol up awake at night too- too restless from the invisible tug in his chest and the moments of sharp panic shared between them.

One night maybe with a little less than week until debut, he finds Kyungsoo shuffling around the dorm. It startles the sleep straight out of Chanyeol as Kyungsoo in his black night shirt circles the corridor like a ghost. He appears to be chanting something and Chanyeol wonders sleepily if the hours of Gregorian chanting have finally gone to his head.

Chanyeol sits up on his bed, careful not to wake Baekhyun as Kyungsoo turns back around and continues muttering under his breath. His socked feet drag on the wooden floor like he’s physically weighed down by all the expectations and the ensuing static makes his hair stick up on end.

It would be comical if Chanyeol couldn’t physically feel the unsettled tension spreading inside his own nerves. When Chanyeol gets closer he deciphers Kyungsoo muttering his opening lines of MAMA over and over again with earbuds plugged in. Chanyeol watches him shuffle back and forth with a quiet fascination as he mimes the choreography quietly.

“Oh hey,” he says. He’s chewing on his lip again, the exact way that their makeup artists keep telling him not to.

Chanyeol plops down on the couch next to him, blinking sleep out of his eyes. Kyungsoo offers Chanyeol an earbud out of habit, before remembering that Chanyeol most definitely knew what their debut song sounded like. He moves to withdraw his hand, but Chanyeol stops him.

“Slow down,” Chanyeol yawns, taking the earbud anyways. He plugs it in just as the song lapses over to Jongin’s screamo section and pulls it straight back out with a grimace. Kyungsoo pays him little attention, too concentrated on the lines.

“You that worried?” Chanyeol asks, interrupting Kyungsoo’s lipsynching.

“Yeah,” Kyungsoo admits, looking down. “I’m terrified actually.”

Chanyeol watches him clutch his mp3 player tightly, knuckles going white under pressure.

It’s not just Kyungsoo. From the day their debut was announced Chanyeol has been keeping track of the dates between them and Inkigayo. They tell him not to, that once reality settles in they’ll make their way on stage and the hard hours of practice will take over their limbs. It’ll be simple, SHINee did it. Super Junior did it and even before them DBSK, H.O.T. and Shinhwa all debuted and soared into fame. There’s no reason EXO can’t.

But the off chance that EXO  _doesn’t_  is what keeps them all up at night. 7 teasers in and hundreds of hours of practice later, Chanyeol finds that weight hasn’t lessened in the slightest.

“It’ll be okay,” Chanyeol says although his words feel a little hollow to himself. It feels a little like Joonmyun’s advice slipping out of his mouth, rehearsed and a little detached.

Kyungsoo scoffs. “You sounded just like Joonmyun,” he groans. “Please don’t ever do that again.”

Chanyeol shrugs, embarrassed. Kyungsoo presses skip back to the beginning of MAMA and lets out a soft sigh, leaning into Chanyeol’s arm like it’s the last bridge of support he has. Chanyeol plugs his respective earbud in and hums along until his arm goes numb under Kyungsoo and his neck cramps up. They fall asleep on the couch that night huddled together in the cold without the comfort of blankets.

Their muscles ache the following morning as they peeling their weary bodies off the couch straight into the group van. Chanyeol lets Baekhyun steer his uncoordinated limbs into the building, too tired to move on his own accord. He’s so out of it that it’s not until lunch break when he stretches his mouth wide open to shovel food in that he notices that his bottom lip is bleeding.

Chanyeol grabs a napkin, blotting at it gingerly. He runs a finger across his lips and feels cracked skin but can’t for the life of him remember biting them.

 

 

 

 

Kyungsoo cracks his first note in the opening of MAMA and Chanyeol feels a stone drop in his stomach even before the note leaves Kyungsoo’s throat.

It startles everyone on stage, but no one more so than Kyungsoo himself. Chanyeol can’t stop the heat creeping into his cheeks while a quick glance at Kyungsoo shows the opposite. Where Chanyeol flushes under the pressure, Kyungsoo grows paler by the second, looking like a ghost under two layers of bb cream. His eyes are wide, but still laser focused and Chanyeol watches him battle himself on stage to keep his voice from shaking even more. There’s an icy feeling in Chanyeol’s veins even as he takes over to the rap section, executing it without a hitch. It’s not his own panic and it doesn’t take even half of Chanyeol’s brain cells to figure out whose it is.

Their performance is a disaster but it’s not an explosive one. There are no glaring mistake besides Kyungsoo’s cracked note. No one slips up the choreography. No one forgets their lines. Everything is in place, but at the same time lacking. Worse than a disaster, they’re forgettable. Beyond the unique visuals, the SMP sound and the screamo section, they’re  _painfully_  forgettable.

Chanyeol can already envision the netizen comments, tearing their lackluster performance apart like ravenous hyenas. He shuts his eyes, shaking off the sinking feeling when Kyungsoo’s face comes back into view looking pale but grimly determined.

Beyond the loud beating of his own heart, he can hear the fanchants continuing despite the hiccups and figures they’ve done something right. A verse, a chorus and then another verse fly by before Jongin screams, flailing his limbs around for dramatic effect. It startles Chanyeol back into action, beaming up to the camera like he’s practice a million times before.

And then it’s all over.

They stumble off stage in a daze. Joonmyun passes them waterbottles as Chanyeol watches Jongin curl his hand into Kyungsoo’s hesitantly. It takes a second for Kyungsoo to respond. For a brief second, Jongin just stands there waiting and then Kyungsoo folds, letting the stiff air within him out in a soft exhale.

Baekhyun is the only one brave or stupid, maybe both, enough to approach him, a cocksure grin on his face. Kyungsoo tenses up immediately hand gripping Jongin’s a little tighter.

Baekhyun simply smiles and Chanyeol is sure he doesn’t mean any harm, but the problem with Baekhyun is that he misjudges how close he is to others at times. He overplays his jokes without a care for boundaries, but it’s all done with mostly good intentions. The weight of which Kyungsoo takes himself seriously is counterbalanced in all the wrong ways in which Baekhyun tries to make everything a joke.

“Can I get a main vocal fist bump for a stage well done?” he offers and to everyone around them it’s a joke. The petrified, stony look on Kyungsoo’s face says otherwise. It’s not his usual death glare. It’s something entirely colder and a little in shock.

Kyungsoo opens his mouth, but then decides against it entirely.

“Give ‘em hell D.Orchestra,” Baekhyun smirks as Chanyeol watches Kyungsoo brush Baekhyun’s hand aside coldly. The anger burning in his gut isn’t his own and it leaves Chanyeol even more confused as Baekhyun shoots him a look as if asking:  _What’s his problem?_

 

 

 

 

Naver is unsurprisingly useless in the field of searching up the specifics of enhanced empathy.

Half an hour of searching and combing through key words like ‘empathy’ and ‘mood swings’ leads Chanyeol to a list of links about menopause. He frowns, clears his browser history and starts over again.

_“The key is soul compatibility.”_  Chanyeol reads, squinting at his screen.  _“This is energetic compatibility on the Higher Dimensions. Shared feelings, physical trauma and separation anxiety are all signs of a potential soulmate. The people who form a soulmate bond will have souls whose light and sound harmonics match closely enough for there to be the potential for the two souls to merge completely.”_

Whatever the hell that meant.

Chanyeol half-heartedly scrolls through the rest of it, exiting his browser when he reaches the end of the nonsense. Normally, he isn’t one to believe in supernatural bullshit, but he’s aware enough to know something is up.

Once is a surprise. Twice is cause for suspicion and everything after that builds a case for a possible correlation.

And beyond his and Kyungsoo’s shared emotions, there’s also something else Chanyeol doesn’t know what to make of.

In mid-May, Joonmyun calls for an early weekly meeting one morning and Chanyeol sits up so fast that his head collides with the floor lamp beside his bed. Pain splinters through his skull like a nail driven through a plank of hapless wood.

“Fuck,” Chanyeol curses loudly through the dorm. He flops back down onto the bed, cradling his unfortunately thick skull. He kicks out at the lamp in pain, knocking it down the floor and the impact shatters the light bulb. The commotion sends a concerned Joonmyun rushing into his room with a slightly less urgent Sehun trailing in behind him.

Once they realize that no one is in mortal danger, they linger by the doorway watching as Chanyeol writhers around in pain on the bed. Sehun actually laughs, that little shit.

“He’ll live,” Baekhyun calls, still lying down in his own bed flicking through his texts. Byun Baekhyun is a good friend. He’s seen Chanyeol’s clumsiness firsthand so often that at this point he knows creating a fuss will just make Chanyeol’s head hurt more.

“Forget it,” Joonmyun groans, rubbing fingers into his temple. It’s pretty easy to win sympathy points from Joonmyun, but just to be sure, Chanyeol gives him a helpless look before moaning a little more in pain.

“Forget it, just go back to sleep,” Joonmyun sighs, leaning down to carefully sweep up the broken shards of glass.

Chanyeol shoots him a grateful look, wrapping his blankets snugly around himself. He’s half finished with his blanket cocoon when he hears Joonmyun muttering something about Kyungsoo having a headache. If Chanyeol were in any state to think he would have pondered Joonmyun’s words a bit more, but for now he just keeps groaning and whining until Baekhyun launches a pillow at him from his side of the room.

 

 

 

 

They don’t win a number 1 with MAMA, not that Chanyeol really expected them to.

In a way it’s almost a relief that EXO didn’t live up to its hype. Chanyeol hadn’t expected fame and instant riches debuting although he’s not sure the same sentiment rings true for all 12 of them. There’s disappointment in the air sure, but no one writes them off except a few diehard antis. For Kyungsoo’s sake no one brings up their debut stage train wreck either.

Chanyeol’s glad to be finished promoting MAMA and judging from Lu Han’s triumphant grin when EXO-M return from China, he’s not the only one.

“The song doesn’t even make sense in Chinese,” Chanyeol hears Lu Han complaining to a half asleep Minseok one night. “It just comes off weirdly incestuous if you really think about it.”

Chanyeol doesn’t get it and judging by the look on Jongdae’s face he doesn’t understand either. Half a year of Beijing air and touring across China seems to have failed Jongdae in the realm of linguistics entirely. He shrugs.

“No one understands MAMA. It doesn’t even make much sense in Korean, if you think about it,” he tells Chanyeol, stretching his arms behind his neck with a carefree air. Chanyeol likes to think otherwise. It’s just the Gregorian Chanting and Jongin’s screamo section that gets to him sometimes.

All in all, they've reached a silent consensus that any song from the album, with the obvious exception of Two Moons, would have made a better title track. Chanyeol doesn’t take that jibe personally and if he’s honest with himself Angel is actually his favorite track to perform live.

For starters, Kyungsoo looks a lot more at peace without the weight of the opening high note breathing down his neck. He’s fluid, dancing and singing in the same way he did pre-debut without a care in the world for the camera or crowds. He jumps around, a little hyperactive, off in his own little world at times. Chanyeol misses that too.

The first time they perform Angel live outside of their debut showcase, Chanyeol sees Kyungsoo tense up again out of the corner of his eye.

Kyungsoo doesn’t let the nervousness show on his face. It comes out in other forms, the tremble of his legs right before it’s his turn and the nervous tapping of his fingers against his mic when no one is looking. His nervous habit of touching his face when it’s his turn in the limelight is painfully obvious to Chanyeol. Not everyone can execute a sexy lip swipe as candidly as Jongin.

They’re a verse and then some in when Kyungsoo starts tapping again, his other hand gripped tightly into a fist and without thinking Chanyeol reaches a hand out.

Kyungsoo gives him a wary look.

_This isn’t part of the choreography_ , Kyungsoo mouths seriously, twisting to show his back to the camera. Chanyeol gives him a half shrug moving with the beat and mouths back,  _I know._

He lifts his hand again, moving it closer to Kyungsoo who keeps casting him suspicious glances. Kyungsoo’s brows twitch a little in effort to not smile when Chanyeol makes a dramatic flipper movement and finally, he caves.

Kyungsoo makes a step forward to bring his hand over when Chanyeol pulls his hand back with a teasing smirk. Kyungsoo’s eyes widen for a second, realizing he’s been cheated before he rounds them on Chanyeol in mock rage.

With his back to the camera, Chanyeol doesn’t hesitate to stick his tongue out. The message is clear and Kyungsoo smirks back, bringing his mic to his mouth with confidence that Chanyeol hasn’t seen in months.

They actually complete the high-five a few more times throughout the month and Chanyeol feels a tingle in his spine as the invisible cord between them wraps tighter and tighter with each point of physical contact until it feels nothing but natural to have Kyungsoo at his side.

 

 

 

 

They finally lay MAMA down into the grave of debuts better off forgotten with the year end Gayo Daejuns. It’s celebrated with the return of Jongin’s original sparkly drop crotch pants and for a second Chanyeol is fearful that they might even crimp his poor, tortured hair for old time’s sake.

They look powerful on stage as EXO. Not M or K, but together. The stage goes without a hitch and it’s not until the encores that Chanyeol remembers it’s no longer April. He’s been an idol for the better half of a year and it’s now freezing outside. The stage costumes are made more out of sequins than any actual cloth that could shield them from the bone-chilling cold.

It helps that EXO-M are with them switching out between verses, but the minimal heat of 6 other bodies on stage does nothing aside from helping them mentality with the knowledge that they suffer together as ‘one’.

Kyungsoo’s lips are tinged blue by the time they’ve finished their encore. Baekhyun’s eyeliner looks permanently frozen in place and Chanyeol is sure the only reason why Jongin is still awake is because it’s so damn cold.

Yet, the crowds still cheer for them enthusiastic as ever. It makes Chanyeol feel guilty.

_Sorry we couldn’t do more, please wait for us. It’ll be better when we come back._  It’s what they’re all thinking, but they can’t say it out loud here. Instead they bow. The fireworks go off around them as they all head back, eyes watering from the cold and the sensation of a year well done.

They shuffle back and forth and in the midst of the closing, Chanyeol curls a hand around to find Kyungsoo’s stone cold fingers and locks them together briefly. Kyungsoo smiles, or at the very least he tries to in his rigid state. He smoothes his thumb down the back of Chanyeol’s hand and keeps doing it even as the cameras and fans filter out of the area.

Chanyeol’s hair is stiff, possibly frozen by the time they crawl back into the van. At Sehun’s behest the heater is blasted on high, but even then Kyungsoo’s fingers stayed interlocked with Chanyeol’s own making him feel warmer than physically possible out in the tundra.

_Thank god_ , Chanyeol thinks, looping an arm around Baekhyun as Kyungsoo huddles in beside him with Jongin. Sehun keeps rubbing his eyes, clearly exhausted. The heater blows in their faces, harsh and dry against their cheeks. Chanyeol sinks down into his seat with a content sigh and thinks naively,  _Thank god we’re done with that._


	2. Spring 2013---Winter 2013

There’s no comeback for almost a year for reasons Chanyeol doesn’t really want to think about. When he does think about it though, he’s stuck with the images of Joonmyun hunched over the dinner table, rubbing slow circles into his temples and the sounds of Sehun crying in the bathroom.  
  
It puts them all in a tense mood. They eat most of their meals in silence and both halves of the group do their best to avoid the topic altogether. In a stroke of rather callously sympathy, SM adds an additional two managers to their dorm as a precaution against saesangs, but they all know it’s to make sure no one else gets any ideas.  
  
Kyungsoo deals with the situation as pragmatic as ever.  
  
“He’ll either come back, or he won’t. It’s up to him,” he says and upon realizing how cold his words sound, glances up apologetically. There’s no denying the truth in Kyungsoo’s words, but it’s harder for Chanyeol to stomach the idea of it. They’re supposed to be one, a group of 12 standing tall and proud on stage to represent the unity of EXO.  
  
“Think about it this way then,” Kyungsoo adds when Chanyeol’s face darkens. “Don’t think if he’ll come back. Think  _when_.”  
  
  
  
  
  
‘When’ turns out to be the least of their concerns when their comeback concept is revealed.  
  
Werewolves are apparently in with the teenage crowd. Howling however, should never be and it’s the ‘ah saranghaeyo’ that gets to Chanyeol the most. For the briefest second, Chanyeol allows himself to miss MAMA.  
  
It would feel like punishment if not for the nearly elated expressions on the managers’ and promotion team’s faces. It dawns on Chanyeol that they actually think this will work.  
  
It’ll make money without a doubt, but EXO needs a little more than that to recover from their lackluster debut. But Chanyeol isn’t part of the creative department nor is he getting paid for SM to stand there and whine about a concept. He sucks in a breathe and gives the mic his best growl to set the tone.  
  
Beside him, Kyungsoo is doing his best not to cringe. The result is an expression crossed between reluctance and disgust, but looks closer to constipation than Kyungsoo himself probably realizes. Kyungsoo’s not alone though, to his left Lu Han’s jaw seems to have detached itself from the rest of his face. On second thought, Chanyeol thinks briefly, that might actually be pretty normal.  
  
Minseok’s shock is well contained but still evident in the way he continually blinks like he’s missing the punchline of this entire joke. Jongdae and Yixing seem to be the only people at ease with the concept. Yixing, being Yixing, is almost always at ease and Jongdae is happy enough just getting this sort of reaction out of all of them.  
  
Sehun to his credit keeps a straight face even when Baekhyun belts out a note so painfully even the vocal instructor does a spit take. It makes the whole situation seem even more comical than it already is. Chanyeol keeps waiting for someone to pop out of the closet, the door or even the air vent to yell: “surprise! here’s your actual concept”-, but nothing of that sort happens.  
  
More specifically there’s nothing of that sort to save them as the Wolf instrumental continues to drone in the background, punctuating the emptiness where they’ll eventually howl into.  
  
It’s been proven that the SM marketing department is still capable of pulling a near miracle out of their ass when the time is right. By the end of the recording session, Chanyeol crosses his fingers and hopes that they’ll pull an especially large one for EXO.  
  
  
  
  
  
Wolf, the demo version, leaks later that month and Chanyeol finds out when he accidentally clicks on a nondescript link leading out of their search query on Naver. He’s taking a sip of water when the page finishes loading, and he nearly sprays it all back onto his screen.  
  
He blinks in disbelief the moment the instrumental begins, not quite sure what he’s stumbled upon. It’s not until he gets an earful of Baekhyun’s high note that he finally breaks down, slamming his laptop to the floor. Baekhyun instantly bolts up in bed, a fearful expression on his face as Chanyeol laughs into his fist uncontrollably.  
  
There are groans from the room adjacent to them and just for kicks, Chanyeol picks his laptop off the floor and puts the link on repeat.  
  
That’s February and the bulk of March in a nutshell.  
  
  
  
  
  
Wolf in some ways is the antithesis of a summer jam, but it’s precisely the howling that makes their comeback a wild hit.  
  
Chanyeol doesn’t understand any of it, but it can’t be a bad thing by the way they dominate the search engines for days even before the teasers are out. If that wasn’t enough, they sweep almost everything from Mubank to Inkigayo with Wolf the week they come back .  
  
Joonmyun cries bitter, hard tears worthy of seven years of hard work and Jongin bawls backstage like a little baby while Taemin films him the whole time with a cheeky grin like Christmas has come early. Yixing excuses himself halfway through their initial celebration to cry quietly in the corner of their dressing room as Lu Han watches over him fondly. Minseok has this dazed expression on his face even as Zitao clings to him waving their first ever trophy in his face. Even Sehun is sniffling a little when he’s not busy laughing at the rest of his hyungs or handing them tissues.  
  
Off in the opposite corner of Yixing, Jongdae and Baekhyun are clinging to each other so hard that it takes a good second for them to regain their breaths when Kyungsoo reaches an arm out for both them. They yank him into their shared hug with a delighted yell.  
  
“Fist bump for a number one,” Baekhyun shouts triumphantly as Jongdae crows his enthusiasm into the air. Kyungsoo laughs, so open and candid that it takes even Baekhyun by surprise. Without missing a beat, Kyungsoo guides his fist to meet Baekhyun’s in the air and Chanyeol feels the apprehension in his gut dissipate. Whatever strange tension that once existed between them is all but a memory.  
  
“Woah there,” Baekhyun snaps, a teasing lilt in his voice. He twists over to face Chanyeol, holding out an arm to block his path. “This is for main vocals only.”  
  
“I’m a fucking main vocal,” Chanyeol says with a wink to Kyungsoo. “Let me in.”  
  
“Fat chance,” Kyungsoo smirks as Jongdae challenges Chanyeol to a high note competition he knows he can’t win. He laughs, latching onto the three diminutive forces that have shaped his life for better or for worse and gives them as many noogies he can manage before they overpower him with their short limbs.  
  
  
  
  
  
It’s nearly midnight by the time they make it back to the dorm, but the air around them is still high. For once everything is bright and jubilant, easily washing out the shades of uncertainty that prevailed for most of the year. Chanyeol thinks ironically that if howling is all it took for everything to fix itself, they should have done it ages ago.  
  
They’re still laughing and settling down in the living room when Joonmyun not so secretly breaks out the soju. Sehun takes one look at the contents on the table and lets out an audible sigh.  
  
“Really hyung?” he groans. Jongin looks slightly miffed as well, eyes still swollen from crying. Zitao reaches a hand out before remembering that he’s not in China.  
  
“You kids can go to sleep,” Baekhyun comments, grabbing the nearest bottle.  
  
“Really,” Sehun deadpans and Baekhyun leans over to ruffle his hair fondly. “Just one, okay?”  
  
“Just one,” Joonmyun echoes doubtfully, but he doesn’t stop any of them as they help themselves to the liquor on the table. Chanyeol thinks he’s maybe still shaken up over their win. Either way, they scramble over each other with the same elation that carried them on stage. The night gives way to shots of soju as they cheer and clasp each other with sweat slicked palms.  
  
  
  
  
  
Chanyeol’s not a heavy drinker, but he doesn’t consider himself a light weight either. 8 or 9 shots in and he feels fine up until the point he sees Kyungsoo, swaying a little in his seat, flushed and unashamedly happy.  
  
It fills Chanyeol with a feeling he can’t place. It’s as foreign and as otherworldly as the strange connection between them. It would be so easy to write it off as a side effect of the alcohol, but Chanyeol knows deep down that this feeling will last long after even his hangover dries up tomorrow.  
  
Kyungsoo too, is tipsy at most, but the way he leans into Chanyeol’s arm tells a different story. He’s the same way, hours later when Chanyeol helps him back to their room. He sets Kyungsoo down his bed and because it’s so dark all that’s left is for Chanyeol to feel the heat shared between them.  
  
Chanyeol can’t stop himself, can’t even bother to try reigning himself back in when Kyungsoo is so warm and so happy beside him. It’s all just momentary insanity and flushed skin against his palms as he cups Kyungsoo’s face between his hands and kisses him.  
  
Kyungsoo’s breath hitches in surprise as Chanyeol leans in fast enough to push the breath back down his lungs.  
  
For a split second, Kyungsoo goes stock still and Chanyeol wonders if he’s been wrong all along.  
  
Kyungsoo isn’t kissing him back.  
  
Something catches in Chanyeol’s throat. He’s two years and then some too late to take back the day he busted into the vocal practice room to find Kyungsoo dressed from head to toe in black, looking lost and owlish until his eyes found purchase in Chanyeol’s own. They’ve come so far, too far for this all to collapse under a single drunken kiss.  
  
There’s lead in Chanyeol’s lungs and every fiber of him is screaming for him to pull back, laugh the kiss off as an accident and move on with his life.  
  
But the heart wrenching part is that Chanyeol can’t. He’s over a hundred train rides, a hundred lost hours on the phone and a hundred breathless conversations too late to undo his feelings. They’re tangled, knotted into the very fiber of who he is now or at the very least who he’s become. He’s EXO’s Chanyeol, but it hits him for a second that he might not ever be Kyungsoo’s.  
  
“Sorry,” he says pulling back when Kyungsoo still hasn’t budged in the slightest. His lips look wet in the low light, still so kissable that Chanyeol has to tear his gaze away before he can make himself regret the night even more. Deep down he knows that if he hadn’t kissed Kyungsoo tonight he would have done it the next night or maybe the one after that.  
  
“For what?” Kyungsoo whispers softly. His eyes are closed, but he’s facing Chanyeol directly and his voice doesn’t waver at all. “Why are you sorry?” he asks again and Chanyeol has never been good at denying him anything.  
  
“I’m sorry,” he repeats and he leans back down to meet Kyungsoo’s lips again because he’s weak- a coward that can’t even face Jinho after all this time. The very thought that Kyungsoo wouldn’t want him is almost unfathomable, scarier than the idea of never debuting.  
  
But then Chanyeol feels him shift and the sudden movement is stronger than any invisible pull or thread of fate slipping between his rib cage to yank the breath out of him. Kyungsoo’s eyes are still shut, but his hand reaches up slowly to cup Chanyeol’s chin. His fingers are warm, heavy and purposeful as they trace Chanyeol’s cheek. He lifts Chanyeol’s chin up just the slightest and it changes everything.  
  
Kyungsoo who rarely laughs at Chanyeol’s lame jokes, let alone gives him anything to work with is responding now. No. He’s initiating, the one calling the shots as he pulls at Chanyeol’s shirt and presses back to claim every inch Chanyeol will give him. Chanyeol feels numb with happiness, paralyzed as he grips at Kyungsoo’s slim shoulders. Kyungsoo leans forward even as they break apart, resting his chin on Chanyeol’s shoulder.  
  
“Why are you sorry?” Kyungsoo asks again, voice warm against the base of Chanyeol’s throat. His voice vibrates up Chanyeol’s neck through his mouth like he’s speaking for them both.  
  
“I’m not,” Chanyeol replies steadily. He feels Kyungsoo’s eyelashes fluttering open as he straightens back up before Chanyeol looks up, letting Kyungsoo’s gaze swallow him whole. His eyes are shiny with a fever that leaves Chanyeol dazed.  
  
All the loose ends he’s let drift the past two years come together when Kyungsoo cups Chanyeol’s face cautiously in his hands and presses their lips together.  
  
  
  
  
  
They kiss again and then again, as many times as Wolf wins to be precise.  
  
There’s four kisses in total, each one done under the guise of drunkenness. It’s hard though for Chanyeol to tell sometimes because Kyungsoo is never sloppy, not even when he’s drinking.  
  
On the night of the second win, Chanyeol matches him shot for shot letting the liquid fire burning down his throat. It’s a solid, pleasurable burn and it gives him the courage he doesn’t have in the daylight to link his fingers together with Kyungsoo’s later in the night as they fumble back into their room. His hand is no stranger on Kyungsoo’s neck, but it’s foreign the way Kyungsoo simply melds into Chanyeol’s touch like he’s done it a million times.  
  
There’s no stage light on them now, no flashing lights and no shutter clicks. Their room is dark, illuminated by nothing but a small sliver of moon.  
  
The darkness unsettles Chanyeol who fumbles along uneasily. Kyungsoo on the other hand treats the darkness like a second skin, mapping out the edges of Chanyeol’s body with confidence like he’s been blind all along, using their combined body heat like a guide. Chanyeol is a walking furnace even without the help of alcohol circulating in his veins and Kyungsoo’s all eagerness and warmth in his lap, pressing wet kisses into his skin.  
  
Their third win goes by fast, a testimony to their growing exhaustion. No one really minds when they come home to find less alcohol on the table and more actual water to combat the sweaty June humidity that clings to their skin. Chanyeol comes out of the shower to find Kyungsoo already passed out in his bed. He looks peaceful, chin tucked into his blanket like a child. Very softly, Chanyeol presses a kiss onto his forehead and murmurs an even softer good night.  
  
By the last kiss, Chanyeol isn’t even drunk anymore, but for their sake he still feigns the same sloppy gestures that send Kyungsoo tumbling into his arms. There’s clarity in everything they do and Chanyeol tries not to think about how Kyungsoo’s fingers are firm in the way they grip Chanyeol’s wrist. He concentrates instead on Kyungsoo’s lips, memorizing the way they pucker up, flushed and pretty as Chanyeol leans into to him.  
  
With the Growl wins, it’s an extra 13 kisses that Chanyeol gets to share with Kyungsoo- one for each #1 they earn. They all go by in a blur. After a triple crown and then some, Joonmyun hesitantly cuts the alcohol supply off in fear for their livers.  
  
Regardless, Chanyeol still kisses Kyungsoo’s lips, his cheeks, his forehead, on the night after their goodbye stage until Kyungsoo is giddy with laughter. His smile is large, even as his arms push up against Chanyeol weakly and Chanyeol drops his head down to rest their foreheads against each other, as they lay together content in just breathing the night away.  
  
In early August, SM opens up a pop up store in their honor. Boy Who Cried Wolf is oddly fitting and by now Chanyeol has learned not to doubt the magic of SM Marketing. On opening day, they gather around together to take silly polaroids which will then be inevitably sold off at some absurd price.  
  
There are posters, mugs, and walls full of other merchandise Chanyeol didn’t even know was in demand. Their manager leaves them with instructions to sign as much as humanly possible and Joonmyun dutifully hands out pens like candy during Halloween.  
  
With a short sigh, Chanyeol pulls up a chair besides Baekhyun and cracks his knuckles. He’s perfected his signature since the first few fansign events for MAMA, but it’s still no fun to spend the day signing fan merchandise until their wrists cramp up.  
  
The initial excitement of having their own pop-up store is beginning to wear off when Chanyeol gets an idea. He taps Kyungsoo on the shoulder and grabs a marker off the table where all of them are busy signing merchandise. He surveys the room, before walking over to the another table situated near the corner of the store.  
  
“Try this with me,” he pleads, signaling for Kyungsoo to follow him. Kyungsoo gives him a wary look but lets his curiosity get the best of him. He walks over to the edge of the table where Chanyeol is waiting and peers over his shoulder.  
  
  
박찬열  
도경수  
  
  
“Really?” Kyungsoo scoffs. The derision in his tone is balanced out by the curious tip-toeing he does in order to peer over Chanyeol’s shoulder. He shifts from foot to foot, poking at Chanyeol playfully as Chanyeol adds their names together. “Do you think I’m that easy?”  
  
“Who knows?” Chanyeol retorts, twirling the marker in his hands. He grins childishly. “Just you wait.”  
  
It’s been a while since Chanyeol has done this game with anyone. There’d been a girl back in middle school who had tried it with everyone in their class until she ended up next to Chanyeol.  
  
“Look,” she said, thrusting a piece of paper into his face. Chanyeol had met the girl once before and was probably still thinking about what to eat for lunch when she waved the paper in his face again.  
  
“Look,” she emphasized, hands on her hips. “Our names worked out. We’re soulmates.”  
  
The terms soulmates probably had about as much impact on Chanyeol’s mind back then as other arbitrary terms like ‘taxes’ and ‘thermodynamics’ did, but now with the marker in his hand and Kyungsoo staring over his shoulder Chanyeol finds himself almost excited. The marker in his hand squeaks against the table as he jots down the final characters.  
  
  
사랑사…  
  
  
“Ahh,” Kyungsoo says, settling back down on the balls of his feet. Chanyeol leans back too, a little disappointed. It’s just a game, but after a euphoric month of kissing and for all the supernatural forces pushing and guiding them together, Chanyeol thinks wryly that they should at least let him have this.  
  
“Kyungsoo-yah,” Chanyeol starts, voice brimming with fake woe. He’s grinning. “I’m sorry.”  
  
“I guess,” Kyungsoo replies equally dramatic, patting him on the back in mock sympathy. “I guess I’m not the one for you.”  
  
  
  
  
  
Despite the mock heartbreak, Chanyeol still has a lot to look forward to. By late August, Growl has taken the nation by storm. Restaurants play their song after famous korean ballads and the term ‘eureurong’ is practically adopted into casual slang.  
  
“It still doesn’t make any sense in Mandarin,” Lu Han complains one evening to a sleeping Yixing this time.  
  
“At least it’s not incestuous anymore,” Minseok adds helpfully. He looks thin these days, almost scarily so and Chanyeol watches Yixing raise his head sleepily to nod his agreement.  
  
“Who cares. Don’t kick a gift-horse in the mouth,” Baekhyun replies with an affected air of wisdom. Jongin blink at him in confusion.  
  
“I don’t think that’s-” he begins when Baekhyun slaps a pale hand over his lips and gives him a placating smile.  
  
“Shouldn’t it be don’t kick a gift-wolf in the mouth?” Jongdae laughs openly, kicking his feet up on the chair and then dropping them back down immediately when Minseok shoots him a wry look from behind the counter.  
  
“You both are so wrong,” Kyungsoo says tonelessly. In a way, they all are.  
  
But it doesn’t stop Jongdae from calling Kyungsoo a soulless fun sucker and Baekhyun to claim fake hurt on account of his literary genius. Kyungsoo’s smile finally cracks through and Chanyeol watches him fail in his attempts to prevent Baekhyun from backhugging him.  
  
  
  
  
  
October is when things get interesting.  
  
Chanyeol makes it home from the jungle a little bruised and banged up, but overall more annoyed by the mosquito bites he still has lingering on his skin. It itches like a fury and Chanyeol scrubs himself down in the shower the moment he gets home, applying liberal amounts of anti-itch cream and tiger balm.  
  
Even in the foggy mirror of the bathroom, it’s clear that the jungle has taken its toll on him. His skin is one problem, but nothing that can’t be cure by a few good nights of sleep and regular washing. As safe as they were guided by Kim Byungman, Chanyeol is still clumsy enough to have accumulated his own collection of bruises, scrapes, and cuts.  
  
There’s a particularly nasty cut, gifted to Chanyeol when they climbed down the ravine. The drop hadn’t even been that high, but Chanyeol had still managed to slice his shoulder open on a particularly jagged rock. There hadn’t been a lot of blood back then, but looking at the scabbing still makes Chanyeol a little queasy.  
  
There’s a tap on the door and Chanyeol rushes to slip his clothes on before answering, “Come in.”  
  
Kyungsoo walks in, gargling salt water. He spits it down the sink before turning to Chanyeol.  
  
“Welcome home,” he starts, voice a little hoarse. With the winter chill settling in it’s inevitable that all of them stay completely healthy. Chanyeol just hopes it’s not strep this time.  
  
He dodges his way past Kyungsoo moving out of the bathroom when Kyungsoo coughs a little, raising his arm to cover his mouth. His sleeve rises a little and that’s when Chanyeol sees a suspicious spattering of bruises, fresh and healing on his skin.  
  
“Kyungsoo wait,” Chanyeol calls out just as Kyungsoo moves to shut the door. Chanyeol’s fingers pay the price as they’re sandwiched between the door and the equally unforgiving doorframe. They both wince, and Kyungsoo snatches his hand back, a light purple mark already visible.  
  
He looks down at his hand, momentarily stunned. Chanyeol doesn’t dare look at his own knuckles.  
  
“Holy shit, I knew it,” Chanyeol says. Kyungsoo looks at him like he’s crazy. His fingers twitch like he’s half in mind to shut the door again, but Chanyeol steps forward.  
  
“Wait, hold up.” Chanyeol calls out desperately and then a little quieter, “We need to talk.”  
  
Kyungsoo pauses, doorknob still in hand. He looks half in mind to slam it again, this time on Chanyeol’s face rather than his fingers when Chanyeol blurts out: “I think it’s  
because we’re soul mates.”  
  
There’s disbelief etched in Kyungsoo’s every feature: the furrow between his brows, the downtilt of his mouth and the bewildered look he sends Chanyeol doubting both their sanities.  
  
“That’s random,” Kyungsoo huffs after a beat. He moves out of the bathroom, dodging past Chanyeol to head back to bed. Chanyeol follows him, placing his elbow next to the door in case Kyungsoo got ideas again.  
  
“It is. It sounds stupid but hear me out,” Chanyeol calls after him. “But how else do we going to explain this?” He lifts his purpling fingers and waves them in front of Kyungsoo’s face. Kyungsoo instantly lifts his hand to see an identical, but fainter set of marks, like a Xerox copy printed with dried ink. But it’s not an illusion when Kyungsoo pinches his finger with his other hand and responds with a wince.  
  
There’s a speculative look in his eyes now as he eyes dart back and forth between the bandage on Chanyeol’s arm and the dark bruise on his own. The line of his scabs matches the scrape on Chanyeol’s arm exactly. It’s uncanny.  
  
He looks up at Chanyeol flabbergasted.  
  
“Soul mates?” he echoes back and Chanyeol nods back.  
  
“I looked it up on Naver,” he says.  
  
“Naver?” Kyungsoo says in a low and very deadly tone. Chanyeol scrambles back half a foot, but Kyungsoo just stands there stonily, his eyebrows furrowed.  
  
“Pann too,” Chanyeol adds helpfully.  
  
Kyungsoo’s fists closes and Chanyeol makes a last ditch effort.  
  
“I’ve felt,” Chanyeol starts. He had spent a long time in the Micronesian jungle planning out all that he had to say to Kyungsoo, but with Kyungsoo staring at him all wide-eyed and in shock, Chanyeol isn’t so sure anymore.  
  
“You’ve felt?” Kyungsoo drawls out. His eyes are impossibly wide.  
  
“I’ve felt connected to you for a really long time,” Chanyeol says. “Like maybe even before the day we met. I know that sounds crazy, but I really think I have some sort of strange, magical telepathic connection with you. Every time you’re upset or angry, I can feel it too.”  
  
Kyungsoo’s eyes flicker to the corridor outside their room where Zitao’s wushu stick is resting harmlessly against the wall.  
  
“Like I thought you hated Baekhyun for the longest time after we debuted,” Chanyeol continues and Kyungsoo interrupts him with a sigh.  
  
“I don’t hate Baekhyun,” he grumbles, “He just rubbed me the wrong way when we first met. I’m over it. We’re cool now.”  
  
“And I know that too, because I could feel it,” Chanyeol breathes, but Kyungsoo just keeps staring like Chanyeol’s just invaded his bathroom time during shower and declared his permanent residency.  
  
“But how? Why?” Kyungsoo asks. He closes his injured hand in a fist and opens it back up in wonder. Chanyeol looks at the stretch of bruised skin over his own knuckles as he mimics Kyungsoo’s action.  
  
“I don’t know, but I remember you having a headache back in May when we first debuted after I nearly split my skull on the lamp,” Chanyeol rambles. “I thought I was going crazy because I felt it too. I’m connected to you, I don’t know why or how, but I just know…that I am.”  
  
He leaves out the whole love and commitment part because all of it feels so horribly sudden. Chanyeol feels overwhelmed by the information he’s just given Kyungsoo and he’s the one who pieced it together in the first place.  
  
Kyungsoo just shakes his head.  
  
“Well what else do you think it is?” Chanyeol prompts, because if Kyungsoo won’t accept his theory then he at least wants to know what Kyungsoo is thinking. He raises his bandaged arm and reaches over to grip Kyungsoo’s bruised one. “How else do you explain this?”  
  
“We don’t explain this” Kyungsoo says simply, brushing Chanyeol off to sit down on his bed with his eyebrows furrowed. “We don’t because we can’t.”  
  
Chanyeol watches him with bated breath as his expression shifts from incredulous to thoughtful.  
  
A brief minute later he stands back up.  
  
“I’m gonna punch you,” he announces and that’s all the warning Chanyeol gets before Kyungsoo closes the distance between them with two quick strides and punches Chanyeol straight in the shoulder,  _hard_.  
  
It hurts like Kyungsoo put intent behind his punch and it send Chanyeol sprawling onto the floor, completely taken aback. His head knocks onto the hardwood floor, sending echoes down his spine. Kyungsoo wastes no time getting to Chanyeol’s eye-level, practically straddling him on the floor.  
  
“Owww, what the actual fuck?”Chanyeol gasps as Kyungsoo swings his arm back for another punch. It lands with a resounding smack on the exact same spot and Chanyeol would have cried out in pain if he weren’t still in shock. Out of all the reactions Chanyeol had played out in his mind before confronting Kyungsoo, getting pummeled into the wooden floor by his soulmate was definitely not one of them.  
  
Even more surprising is the way Kyungsoo suddenly stiffens. He sits straight up and proper, practically on Chanyeol’s lap and starts unbuttoning the top of his shirt.  
  
“Umm,” Chanyeol mumbles intelligently.  
  
“See anything yet?” Kyungsoo asks, peeling his shirt back just far enough to expose his shoulder.  
  
Chanyeol’s mouth feels incredibly dry when he answers.  
  
“Umm, not yet?” Chanyeol says slowly, knuckles turning white from curling into his fists. It takes all of his will power and then some to not pull Kyungsoo’s shirt completely off of him on the spot. Kyungsoo’s shoulder is peeking out of his shirt and from this angle there’s nothing Chanyeol wants more than to spread his hands across the span of Kyungsoo’s collarbones.  
  
“Maybe, it’s a little lower than that?” he suggests and it comes out innocently enough that Kyungsoo doesn’t even blink before fiddling with the next button. He peels the shirt lower, shaking his shoulders back and forth to wiggle the fabric lower. It would have been silly, funny even, if not for the fact Kyungsoo is practically sitting on Chanyeol’s very interested dick.  
  
The back and forth motion is infuriating, teasing every ounce of Chanyeol’s self-control as Kyungsoo bares one pale shoulder out for inspection.  
  
“See anything yet?” he asks dead serious, leaning forward to bring it closer to Chanyeol. It’s right in front of his face, so close that all Chanyeol would have to do is tilt his head a little forward and he could be kissing the skin on Kyungsoo’s shoulder.  
  
“Ummm,” Chanyeol answers as evenly as he can. From this angle he can see all the moles on Kyungsoo’s skin, all the little freckles that pop out against his pale skin. Chanyeol has noticed them before, but never like this.  
  
He’s too caught up tracing his eyes over the newly revealed moles when another mark comes into view. It’s slightly red, still puffy on the edges and faint, but definitely there.  
  
Chanyeol’s eyes go wide and Kyungsoo reacts instantly as well. He straightens back up, leaning his full weight back on Chanyeol’s pelvis and almost tears the rest of his shirt off on his own accord.  
  
Kyungsoo’s fingers are wild, skimming across his shoulder until he finally presses into the tender mark and lets out an exhale.  
  
“Oh god you’re right,” Kyungsoo mutters a little hysterically. His fingers trace the mark on his shoulder in small, dazed circles.  
  
Chanyeol feels dazed too.  
  
“That kind of hurt,” he says belatedly, cheek still smushed against the floor.  
  
“Sorry,” Kyungsoo says softly. “I just need to know, but this is…”  
  
He trails off and Chanyeol is now really aware how hard his dick is starting to get.  
  
“So if you get hurt,” Kyungsoo muses, either entirely oblivious or more of a cocktease than Chanyeol assumed him to be, “Or when I get hurt. We both get hurt. Is that what you’re saying?”  
  
“Sort of,” Chanyeol gestures. When Kyungsoo puts it like that it does sort of seem to suck. “That’s not the point though.”  
  
“It isn’t?” Kyungsoo says a little roughly, buttoning the top of his shirt back up. “That’s funny, all I know is that I keep waking up with new bruises and scratches that I have no memory of getting.”  
  
He pauses, sounding a little angry. “Do you know how long I’ve thought I’ve just been sleepwalking around? I even tied myself down to the bed frame once to stop it.” It’s an amusing image and one that kind of turns Chanyeol on if he’s honest. He chuckles. Kyungsoo’s only response is to glare.  
  
“Oh come on, that’s kind of funny,” Chanyeol laughs, smile dropping when Kyungsoo turns away from him again. “It’s more than that though. This is special.”  
  
“How special?” Kyungsoo asks.  
  
“You’re not going to make this easy for me, are you?” Chanyeol says, sucking in a breath. It’s a good thing Chanyeol is as shameless as they come.  
  
“All of this happens because we’re…” Chanyeol starts. He pauses, unsure if he’s going to get punched again.  
  
“Soulmates,” Kyungsoo finishes for him a little hollowly. He finally turns back to face Chanyeol, slumping down beside him. “I can’t believe it.”  
  
Chanyeol can.  
  
He’s wanted confirmation since the beginning.  
  
Since the very day the whimsical thread wound itself around his heart and led him through the empty SM hallways over to Kyungsoo. He’s wanted to know if the shared apprehension between them was actually shared. He’s wanted to know if every time he gets hurt, Kyungsoo feels the same way.  
  
Off to the side, Kyungsoo keeps running a finger down his newly bruised shoulder. He pinches the skin, until its red and puffy again and then brings his hand back over to Chanyeol’s shoulder. His fingertips are cool, making Chanyeol wince as he presses down into the irritated skin.  
  
Kyungsoo’s expression is unreadable as he brings himself over Chanyeol, carefully inspecting Chanyeol’s mark. He leans in close and Chanyeol fidgets under his careful scrutiny.  
  
“Does it work with hickies?” Chanyeol jokes, shivering as Kyungsoo’s breath ghosts across his skin. He’s laughing which is always a good sign.  
  
“Nice try,” Kyungsoo replies flatly, but his eyes are still trained on the bruise on Chanyeol’s shoulder.  
  
“Wanna test it out?” Chanyeol laughs and it sort of means a lot to him that Kyungsoo doesn’t punch him again.  
  
  
  
  
  
They try everything short of intentional self-harm to test Chanyeol’s theory to its limits.  
  
There’s nothing unusual about Kyungsoo choking him, but this time they notice the faint ring of bruises on both their necks. Chanyeol takes to biting next, nibbling along Kyungsoo’s neck until they’re both covered in mottled hickies.  
  
“Are you kidding me?” Kyungsoo growls one morning, pulling Chanyeol out of bed to drag him in front of the mirror. Chanyeol blinks blearily.  
  
It takes a second for his vision to focus and another for him to recognize the suction ring of hickies around Kyungsoo’s mole. It’s in plain sight for the world to see on both of their necks.  
  
“Oh,” Chanyeol chuckles, bracing himself for impact. Kyungsoo takes a threatening step forward. “You’re cute.”  
  
No one questions anything when they sport matching turtlenecks and Chanyeol wears a scarf for half a week.  
  
“Shit are you trying out for MMA or something?” Sehun whistles when Chanyeol emerges from the shower one day with nothing but a towel. It’s a mistake to bare that much skin, especially when most of it is bruised and oddly bitten.  
  
“Try maestro of the SM dungeon,” Baekhyun smirks, wolf-whistling as Chanyeol pads back into his room to hide his face. The only thing worthwhile out of that whole exchange is when Sehun’s face goes flatter than humanly possible.  
  
It hurts a little, the way Kyungsoo is so skeptical. For Chanyeol who has experienced Kyungsoo’s every emotion, injury and heart ache throughout the past 4 years, it burns a little knowing that the experience hadn’t maybe been mutual all along  
  
  
  
  
  
They win a MAMA award in November and Chanyeol is retroactively glad that they didn’t manage it with their actual song, MAMA.  
  
Growl is catchy enough to have them spared from the nation’s internet wrath and a million XOXO album sales later dared anyone to challenge EXO’s status as the hot trend. A year ago, they were nothing but a group of rookies covering old SM classics, and now they’re one of the last groups to perform with a full eleven minutes of howling and dance breaks. It’s worth the look on everyone’s faces and most definitely worth the uncomfortable smiles G-Dragon sports every time the camera pans over to catch the crowd’s reactions.  
  
In the darkness, Chanyeol slips the fake cuffs on his wrists. They’re sitting on desks, stacked on top of other desks on a stage decorated to look like some strange cross between a classroom and a jungle. From the edge of the stage, Chanyeol sees Lu Han appear, leading the camera in with a cautious look as the rest of them snap to life. They jump on top of the desks, careful not to shake the already shoddy looking structure. It’s a little dangerous, but Chanyeol likes to think that they’ve had enough practice to execute this as cleanly as possible.  
  
The lights above them flash and Chanyeol tears out of his chains, a feral expression on his face. The signature beat of Growl drops and that’s their cue.  
  
Chanyeol drops to the ground with a snarl, but everything goes wrong even before he hits the floor. All there is for a second is the usual flashing lights, the scream of fangirls, and suddenly Chanyeol’s own ankle is on fire. It burns like someone set an anthill under his shoe, pain spreading through all his nerves like an electric jolt. He bites through the pain, hand beating down on the desk. Next to him Kyungsoo goes pale.  
  
In front of them, Lu Han circles around the camera, giving it a concerned look as Jongin saunters up, all cocksure and poised. They push each other, milking the stage tension for all its worth.  
  
Everything throbs and it takes an insane amount of self-control for Chanyeol to not cave right there and then on stage. His ankle hurts so much for a second he’s not even sure which one of them actually sprained it.  
  
Kyungsoo is composed, eyes unblinking even as he stumbles forward to join the group. Chanyeol does his best to ignore the numbing sensation in his own leg. It’s not like they have a real psychic connection, but Chanyeol can’t help but try sending supportive thoughts through their link.  
  
They’re professionals, pain and apprehension hidden behind layers of makeup and the fervent screams down below. There’s no chance for a retake, and Kyungsoo limps through the entire choreography like a martyr. It’s quite the feat considering that Chanyeol sometimes struggles to do the footwork correctly with two good legs and fully functioning joints.  
  
The beat to Growl fades into the crowd and Kyungsoo latches onto Chanyeol’s sleeve for the briefest second, a tap and miss it moment, but Chanyeol can almost hear his reluctant tone of  _‘I’ll live’_.  
  
Chanyeol sucks in a breath in response just loud enough for the two of them to hear. Kyungsoo lets go of his sleeve and without another word, they take their place in the Wolf Tree before the camera pans back over.  
  
  
  
  
  
The minute they’re backstage, Kyungsoo collapses against the wall. Chanyeol watches him grope blindly for purchase, for anything to lean against.  
  
“Shit are you okay?” Chanyeol gasps. Kyungsoo shoots him an alarmed look, staggering back as Chanyeol leans down to yank his pant leg up. Kyungsoo’s ankle is swollen, almost twice the size it should be.. Kyungsoo rolls his ankle gingerly, blinking as Chanyeol winces as well.  
  
“How badly does it hurt for you?” Kyungsoo wonders aloud. He winces again as Chanyeol smoothes his hand down the injury. It burns, red and angry as Chanyeol smoothes his hand down the swollen joint  
  
“You fucking danced on this thing?” Chanyeol asks. He keeps his voice as low as possible in case any of the others still had their mics on backstage. Kyungsoo’s eyes are bright with pain, nearly glossy in the low light.  
  
“Yeah, it hurt like a bitch though,” Kyungsoo laughs, hollowly. He shakes his head, tight lipped and stubborn as Chanyeol reaches over to help him up. He loops an arm around Kyungsoo, letting him lean the entirety of his weight on Chanyeol’s good leg. From the side, Baekhyun shoots them both concerned glances, but Chanyeol waves him off. Baekhyun quirks a brow and then rolls his eyes, mouthing a sarcastic-  _sure thing, Romeo._  
  
Between the two of them they’ve got two usable legs and that’s all they really need to hobble downstage, stumbling along for a few steps until Jongdae notices. Unlike Baekhyun, he doesn’t ask for permission. Without a word, he slips into Chanyeol’s side naturally slotting under Chanyeol’s arm to hoist them both back upright. It’s times like these Chanyeol remembers how much he fucking love Jongdae sometimes.  
  
“Don’t mind me,” Jongdae jokes, but his eyes are worried scanning across Kyungsoo’s face in concern. He doesn’t seem to notice Chanyeol’s limping. Jongdae goes with them as far as the stage exit until he’s called back by Joonmyun.  
  
The moment he’s gone, Kyungsoo heaves out a sigh. He has no problem shaking off Chanyeol, but Jongdae’s open nature is something that’s hard to turn down.  
  
When they’re alone, Kyungsoo detaches Chanyeol’s limbs from himself. He stands on his own but still allows Chanyeol to hover by his side. Kyungsoo takes a step and then another before gritting his teeth in pain. He shoots Chanyeol a dirty look when he comes near him again with his arms extended.  
  
“I can walk,” Kyungsoo says stiffly. “You’re going to make people worry.”  
  
“Too late,” Chanyeol says, slinging Kyungsoo’s shoulder back over his arm. Kyungsoo huffs a little, but doesn’t keeping complaining. He’s surprisingly quiet the entire way to the table until their manager comes to rush him off for medical attention.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo comes home a quarter before 12, hobbling next to Joonmyun who doesn’t look quite well himself. Chanyeol can tell Kyungsoo is high on pain meds the moment he gets back in the dorm. His eyes are a little unfocused and rather shiny looking.  
  
Chanyeol approaches him, still limping a little himself. Kyungsoo squints up at him before hopping a little to close the distance between them.  
  
“Let me pinch you,” Kyungsoo mumbles suddenly and Chanyeol finds his cheeks assaulted. Kyungsoo’s fingers are uncoordinated, much like the rest of him, and it’s harmless the way he pokes and prods at Chanyeol’s face. He plucks at Chanyeol’s cheeks, giggling quietly to himself as some of Chanyeol’s bb cream smears and rubs off onto his fingers.  
  
“That’s gross,” Chanyeol interjects, suddenly feeling conscious about his unwashed face. Kyungsoo doesn’t seem to mind though, now absentmindedly thumbing at the corner of Chanyeol’s lips.  
  
“You two are so gross,” Sehun comments off handedly from behind them. Chanyeol flushes, unaware they had an audience, but Kyungsoo steals his attention right back with a loud gasp.  
  
“You’re real,” Kyungsoo laughs like it’s all too much to bear and Chanyeol lets him flutter his fingers around to clasp Chanyeol’s ears.  
  
He’s got that stupid infectious grin on his face again. The one that he uses when there are no cameras around them and it’s just Chanyeol and Kyungsoo fooling around in the subway station again. Under medical influence, it comes off even goofier looking than normal and Chanyeol can’t stop the laughter from bubbling through him.  
  
“Did you think otherwise?” Chanyeol asks, humoring Kyungsoo for all it’s worth. He guides Kyungsoo slowly over to sit down on the couch before he can fall and hurt himself even more.  
  
“I always feel like you could just fly off,” Kyungsoo admits sleepily. He flicks Chanyeol’s right ear with his finger and flaps it back and forth for emphasis. Chanyeol’s ears flush under the tickling, but Kyungsoo just keeps tracing his finger down the ridge.  
  
Chanyeol’s hand comes up to grab his and Kyungsoo lets him bring their hands back down to his lap. Kyungsoo is looking at him, eyes a little watery and for a second Chanyeol feels it all over again. The old, strange bond between them that possessed him for the first time in the cafeteria across from Jinho.  
  
It loops itself around Chanyeol’s neck and presses in like a noose, choking the hesitation out of him. Looking Kyungsoo in the eyes gives him a sort of comfort, the warmth and belonging of a well-worn sweater. Right now there’s nothing but warmth and trust, shining back out of Kyungsoo’s eyes as he smiles at Chanyeol absently.  
  
Chanyeol smiles back, leaning forward when Joonmyun gives a rather loud and untimely cough.  
  
“You should rest up too,” he says in the same tone he tells Jongin to wear socks inside his shoes and Chanyeol scoots back a solid half foot in surprise. Kyungsoo doesn’t move though. He just keeps staring at Chanyeol in amazement and when Chanyeol doesn’t move back into the space between them he slouches forward, resting his head on Chanyeol’s lap.  
  
“Good night,” he mumbles sleepily and Chanyeol wonders how far gone they both are when Kyungsoo starts drooling on his lap and all he can feel is this giant overbearing sense of fondness.


	3. Winter 2013---Summer 2014+

 

Miracles in December sweeps in and out as quickly as the year ends on its own.  
  
It’s a time for change. A time to resolve old issues and make way for the new experiences of the new year. Chanyeol of all people gets up on stage in a ridiculous elfish costume and leads the dance for Christmas Day. The suspenders are a nice touch and Chanyeol really doesn’t mind it when all of them get on stage to make Christmas Day a hundred times more suggestive than before. Kyungsoo’s smile is well worth the ribbing Chanyeol gets when he slips up on the choreography. He shrugs it off with a good natured smile. They end up refilming the performance and for the briefest moment, Chanyeol is tempted to slip up again.  
  
Not everything is peachy though. Chanyeol returns home to the dorm late one evening to find it empty.  
  
Well, almost empty.  
  
Chanyeol walks in just as someone else steps out. They bump into each other and Chanyeol raises an arm to wave when Lu Han appears in the doorway yelling in Mandarin.  
  
Chanyeol doesn’t get a wave back. He just brushes past Chanyeol, muttering an apology in Korean and bolts into the parking lot outside their dorm, leaving a still fuming Lu Han in the doorway. Chanyeol flattens himself against the wall, trying to make himself as unseen as possible. It’s hard given his height and Lu Han spots him, instantly unclenching his fist.  
  
The slump in his back returns as Chanyeol awkwardly enters. Chanyeol doesn’t know what to say, doesn’t even know what they were saying. He can only guess that it wasn’t a good thing with the way Lu Han’s fingers repeatedly dig into his forehead.  
  
Chanyeol pulls out his phone, about to dial out when Lu Han shakes his head. It’s full of defeat, the tried patience of someone who hasn’t had a chance to get everything off their mind.  
  
“Don’t bother,” Lu Han sighs. He pours himself a drink, something cheap but it’ll do what it’s intended to. “He’s told the managers where he’s headed. He’ll be back this time.”  
  
It takes Chanyeol a second to register Yixing hovering behind them in the hallway as well, nodding to Lu Han’s words in agreement. Yixing walks in, pouring himself a glass of water and joins Lu Han at the table. He pokes Lu Han’s arm, a lighthearted gesture in the midst of the tense atmosphere. Lu Han shrugs it off, unmoving until Yixing murmurs something to him in Mandarin that Chanyeol has no hope of deciphering.  
  
Chanyeol just stands there, mostly confused. He doesn’t get what’s going on, but the note of finality in Yixing’s voice is unnerving enough on its own.  
  
  
  
  
  
The new year passes with more events and less sleep. Chanyeol becomes more coffee than person by the end of their promotions which is ironic given that he’s not even promoting. It’s not until they’re almost a week into 2014 that EXO get a break long enough for Chanyeol to do something he’s had in mind for a while.  
  
Expectations have a tendency to ruin everything so Chanyeol just tosses the poorly wrapped package into Kyungsoo’s lap and waits for a reaction. It’s kind of a big deal, but the whole getting down on his knees isn’t really Chanyeol’s style.  
  
Kyungsoo just looks up at him in surprise.  
  
“Open it,” Chanyeol suggests. He pulls out his phone, crossing his legs when Kyungsoo gives him a wry look, eyebrows quirking up.  
  
“It’s not dangerous,” Chanyeol says, flicking through his texts, too nervous to do anything otherwise. He watches Kyungsoo out of the corner of his eyes as Kyungsoo tears open the packaging to reveal a slim dark box.  
  
Chanyeol immediately flubs, “It’s just a ring. Not really a big deal,-” like it’ll change the awestruck expression on Kyungsoo face.  
  
“It’s for me though, right?” Kyungsoo asks. He collects himself for a moment enough to make his voice sound skeptical. Chanyeol nods back vigorously. Leave it to Kyungsoo to be paranoid enough to accuse Chanyeol of re-gifting.  
  
Kyungsoo takes the box into his hands, as if weighing it. He clears his throat, suddenly and Chanyeol watches the color rise in his cheeks. “If it’s for me, then I’ll be the one to decide how big of a deal it is.”  
  
Kyungsoo lifts the box again, pulling the ring out with a simple motion. He holds it for a moment, cradling between his fingers like he’s not sure what to do with it. Chanyeol is caught with the sudden urge to take it from Kyungsoo and be the one to slide it onto his finger.  
  
 _Will you be mine?_  Chanyeol ponders as Kyungsoo glances in his direction with an overwhelmed expression. By now he’s probably noticed the waveform etched into the metal and the matching ring, identical in everything but ring size, on Chanyeol’s own finger. He watches Kyungsoo slip the ring on his forefinger. The silver looks good on him, a perfect fit.  
  
“It’s weird,” Chanyeol starts filling the silence, “I know it’s a little weird, but I thought they were pretty cool. You don’t even really have to wea-”  
  
“Shut up,” Kyungsoo says quietly. He raises his hand to bring the ring eye-level to himself. “They’re beautiful. I-”  
  
Kyungsoo lowers his head down shyly, as if he’s reading Chanyeol’s mind on their shared connection. “I love it,” he finishes. “Thank you.”  
  
The ring on Chanyeol’s finger feels so heavy, so real with its weight and the matching gleam on Kyungsoo’s finger. They’re official. Chanyeol put a fucking ring on it.  
  
Kyungsoo turns a little, facing the window and the glow of the sunset makes everything about him look soft. He’s soapstone on the balcony waiting for Chanyeol to carve his embrace into his side and sculpt his kiss into Kyungsoo’s lips forever.  
  
Chanyeol comes up from behind and tucks his head on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, pressing wet lips against his neck. Kyungsoo, honest to god, nuzzles back and it gives Chanyeol the courage he needs to bring his hands up from his side and slide them across Kyungsoo’s waist.  
  
Kyungsoo’s hands stop him, but instead of brushing Chanyeol off like usual, he brings his hands on top of Chanyeol’s and leaves them there around his waist. It’s so romantic for a second that Chanyeol wants to laugh it off, wants to break the odd tension in the air with a joke like he always does, but Kyungsoo holds him down like an anchor, firmly rooting him to the spot.  
  
The strange pull he’s always felt around Kyungsoo vibrates with pleasure. It aches of belonging. So momentary, so fragile, so perfect. Kyungsoo turns around, eyes meeting Chanyeol’s with a smile. He guides Chanyeol down as much as Kyungsoo has to tip-toe up for them to meet in the middle. Kyungsoo’s hand is warm save for the cool metal of his ring as he reaches up to cup Chanyeol’s face to press their lips together.  
  
It’s a soft kiss, nothing like their sloppy, half-drunken kisses or the ones where Kyungsoo bites up against him, all harsh and demanding. It’s nothing more than a soft press of lips- a hopeful, delicate act that leaves Chanyeol yearning for more like he’s never wanted anything else so badly in his life.  
  
Chanyeol wants to say something, wants to tell Kyungsoo that he loves him and that he’ll never stop loving him even when he’s wrinkly and old and EXO is nothing but a faded set of fond memories like childhood photos. Instead, Chanyeol laces their fingers together around his cheek and feels Kyungsoo shiver feverishly as their rings brush against each other with a soft cling.  
  
  
  
  
  
Kyungsoo all but yanks him back inside their room.  
  
The second the door shuts, they’re on each other. Chanyeol cups Kyungsoo’s face in his hands, swallowing Kyungsoo’s features with his palms as they kiss. It’s so soft, so cautious at first like neither of them knows what they’re doing, but then Kyungsoo opens up beautifully. He licks Chanyeol’s upper lip and just like that everything from last June and August floods back into Chanyeol’s mind.  
  
He kisses Kyungsoo, really kisses him, until they’re both breathless and panting and Kyungsoo takes a fistful of Chanyeol’s hair to yank him down lower. Chanyeol, ever the people pleaser, complies. He sinks down lower and lower until he’s nearly on his knees, reaching up to kiss Kyungsoo for once. Kyungsoo smirks until he realizes what Chanyeol is up to.  
  
“I’m not that fucking short,” Kyungsoo grumbles but he uses the new angle to advantage, exposing Chanyeol’s throat.  
  
Chanyeol shivers, feeling Kyungsoo work his lips down his neck. His hands feel big, overbearing as he works on Kyungsoo’s belt. Kyungsoo himself feels so small, dwarfed in Chanyeol’s shadow and his arms when he reaches behind to grope him.  
  
“You are not,” Kyungsoo pants, breaking the kiss to bat Chanyeol’s hands off of him. “You are not carrying me anywhere.”  
  
Funnily enough, the thought hadn’t even occurred to Chanyeol, but it certainly does now and no amount of kicking and shoving from Kyungsoo can throw him off as Chanyeol scoops him into his arms, swinging him around like a ragdoll. Kyungsoo’s arms push against Chanyeol’s chest in protest even as Chanyeol keeps swinging him.  
  
“I hate you,” Kyungsoo mumbles into his shoulder and Chanyeol gives him a hearty laugh in response before Kyungsoo elbows him roughly. It knocks about half the wind out of Chanyeol who drops them both onto the floor where Kyungsoo’s weight knocks the remaining half out of his lungs.  
  
Chanyeol lands on his back with a thud. The wood floor is unforgiving, bouncing the back of his head in a painful smack. Kyungsoo sits up immediately, his fingers gripping the back of Chanyeol’s head, cradling him carefully. It’s always nice to know that Kyungsoo gives a shit about him even after he roughs him up.  
  
He leans over Chanyeol, worry stitched into his brow as Chanyeol grins up loopily.  
  
“Do Kyungsoo,” Chanyeol says in a moment of brilliance.  
  
“Yes?” Kyungsoo asks back. It’s rare for Kyungsoo to indulge him so openly and Chanyeol’s always a little needy when it comes to Kyungsoo anyways.  
  
“I’m really glad,” he says, or that’s all he manages to say when Kyungsoo leans forward, grinding himself down on Chanyeol, uncharacteristically bold.  
  
“Me too. I’m really glad we’re finally having sex,” Kyungsoo says moving over to pull at Chanyeol’s belt, before pausing. “God, how long has it been?”  
  
“That’s not what I meant,” Chanyeol whines but the smirk on Kyungsoo’s lips doesn’t leave.  
  
“Are you sure?” Kyungsoo says seriously, lifting two fingers to his temple in a mock telepathic pose. “Cause that’s all I’ve heard.”  
  
“I was trying to be romantic,” Chanyeol argues, pushing at Kyungsoo who slides off him until they’re lying side by side on the floor.  
  
“Well, I’m already quite wooed,” Kyungsoo complains and then a little quieter. “Now you’re just killing the mood.”  
  
Chanyeol shifts in surprise, but surely he’s already felt it, the undeniable spike of pleasure in his own spine even before Kyungsoo leans down and something suspiciously hard prods his thigh.  
  
“Holy shit,” Chanyeol breaths and Kyungsoo makes a motion towards Chanyeol’s own tenting pants. His hand hovers over Chanyeol’s waistband, a little hesitantly, before he runs it down the rough material.  
  
They both shiver.  
  
It’s impossible for Kyungsoo to not have jerked off at least once in the past 4 years, but Chanyeol can’t help but wonder how he’s never felt something like this before as he presses his hand over Kyungsoo’s to palm down on his own dick. Kyungsoo twists, face flushed and heated like it’s his dick Chanyeol is touching.  
  
They repeat the motion, a slow and progressively rough tempo until Kyungsoo is panting, these wonderfully soft noises trailing out of his open mouth as he rubs his hand up and down Chanyeol’s still painfully clothed dick. His pupils are blown wide and Chanyeol half thinks they’ll fuck on the floor right here and now.  
  
Kyungsoo’s other hand latches onto Chanyeol’s collar, pulling at the buttons. Chanyeol returns the favor, yanking Kyungsoo’s shirt open to press his lips against his collarbones. He licks his way across the skin, connecting the moles with his tongue.  
  
“Bed,” Kyungsoo growls, dangerously low. He pulls back to start unbuttoning his own shirt. “Bed now.”  
  
Chanyeol gets to his feet, wobbling and unbelievable turned on as Kyungsoo gives him an expectant look. Kyungsoo’s eyes are a molten dark brown- all liquid and trusting as he removes his clothes. His dark shirt gives way to a pale shoulder and his jeans slip down to the floor to reveal slightly knobby knees and a bruise on his inner thigh. Finally, he drops his boxers with a boldness Chanyeol has come to associate Kyungsoo with when they’re alone. His eyes trace down the curve of Kyungsoo’s spine to dip down to the small of his back. Chanyeol takes note of the strange bruise on Kyungsoo’s shoulder, mapping it out with a dangerous curiosity.  
  
Kyungsoo pays him no attention though, placing the pile of clothes away before moving to take off his ring.  
  
“Wait,” Chanyeol gasps, feeling warm all over. Kyungsoo’s fingers stop, stilling the ring on the second knuckle. Chanyeol moves a little desperately and takes Kyungsoo’s hand into his own. He slides the ring back down to the base of Kyungsoo’s finger.  
  
“Keep the ring on,” he says, swallowing thickly. Kyungsoo nods ever so slowly, lifting his eyes to meet Chanyeol’s. “You should too.”  
  
They’re naked, facing each other. Every nick, every bruise, every scratch mirrored on each other’s bodies like it’s meant to be. The ring, silver and gleaming in the near dark feels like a brand, burning hot and possessive in Chanyeol’s stomach.  
  
Kyungsoo takes the first step towards him, but Chanyeol surges in to beat him to the half way mark. He pushes Kyungsoo down onto the bed and clambers on top of him, covering every inch of Kyungsoo’s skin with his own. It’s all salty skin and the bitter taste of cologne against his tongue, as Chanyeol licks his way down Kyungsoo’s neck. Chanyeol presses down on his shoulder, fingers digging in harshly against the bruises. Kyungsoo groans into his mouth and the burn in Chanyeol’s own shoulder feels so, so good.  
  
Kyungsoo lets out a soft breath and pushes something into Chanyeol’s hands. The bottle of lube is small, completely unused. Chanyeol coats his fingers with generous amounts of it as Kyungsoo trains his eyes to the ceiling.  
  
Chanyeol splays his hands against the insides of Kyungsoo’s thighs, pushing his knees down to the bed. Kyungsoo opens up with a little hesitation, a slight tension in his thighs and Chanyeol sees him flush as he’s exposed to the cool air.  
  
“It’s not that embarrassing is it?” Chanyeol asks. His finger slides all the way in and Kyungsoo shivers, all goosebumps and quiet breathing. It goes it so easily, fucking in and out of Kyungsoo’s hole, curling and stroking over his sensitive walls.  
  
The second finger pushes in just as smoothly and it doesn’t take nearly as long for Kyungsoo to respond this time. His eyes screw shut for a little while until he gets used to the intrusion as he rocks his hips a back little. Chanyeol scissors his fingers back and forth, pausing ever so slightly when Kyungsoo gasps or looks uncomfortable.  
  
He adds in a third finger, too transfixed on Kyungsoo’s reactions to notice what’s happening until the edge of his ring, metallic and cool, slips into Kyungsoo as well. It’s seated on the base of his fourth finger, but Chanyeol doesn’t remember it before it’s too late and Kyungsoo jolts up, the muscles in his abdomen fluttering in response to the cool metal.  
  
“Oh,” Chanyeol breathes. “Fuck that’s hot.”  
  
Kyungsoo squirms, face heating up instantly. “What the fuck was that,” he croaks, but Chanyeol’s fingers are already twisted inside of him again. Kyungsoo shivers, panting hard as another tremor traces up his spine.  
  
“It’s good,” Chanyeol voices. “Isn’t it?”  
  
Kyungsoo lets out a low whine, raising himself onto his elbows to fuck himself down on Chanyeol’s fingers. Chanyeol keeps his fingers tight together as the silver of his ring disappears again into Kyungsoo and Kyungsoo trembles like he can’t get enough of it.  
  
“I’m ready,” he groans finally. Chanyeol slips his fingers out with a slick, obscene pop. Inch by inch, Chanyeol sinks in until he bottoms out. The fit is tight, unbelievable full and it’s still amazing to Chanyeol that someone as small as Kyungsoo can take him in at all.  
  
Kyungsoo exhales sharply and Chanyeol can vaguely feel a slight burn, more of a stretch than a tear in his own ass.  
  
“Sorry, I’m kind of big,” Chanyeol grins. Kyungsoo gives him a stubborn look, but his breaths keep hitching.  
  
“It’s okay,” Chanyeol coaxes, running his hands down Kyungsoo’s sides over and over again. “It’s okay.”  
  
He keeps doing it until Kyungsoo’s mind is utterly relaxed, loose like an unwound string that Chanyeol coils around his fingers. Kyungsoo lets out a slow breath, eyes tracing over Chanyeol’s arms. His eyes land on the light scar on Chanyeol’s arm- his trophy from the jungle. Kyungsoo slides a hand up Chanyeol’s side to brush against it, almost reverently. The cool metal of his ring sends shivers down Chanyeol’s arm leaving a trail of goosebumps in its wake.  
  
Chanyeol has had sex before it’s never felt anything like this. Chanyeol can feel Kyungsoo’s mind, dizzy with pleasure pressing into Chanyeol’s as their hips slamming up against each other. Their bond makes everything a hundred times more intense. Everything is a double feedback loop; a constant flood of endorphins between them both as Chanyeol rolls his hips even faster.  
  
Kyungsoo clenches down around him with every bouncing movement. He’s so good, so wonderfully hot and tight as Chanyeol pounds into him. Trapped between them, Kyungsoo’s cock is full, dripping and rock hard even though Chanyeol has barely even touched him. The double stimulation seems to be affecting him even more than it does Chanyeol.  
Kyungsoo’s cock is leaking, beads of precome oozing out as Chanyeol finally wraps a hand around it.  
  
Kyungsoo finally breaks.  
  
He moans, deep and wanton, but the sound travels through Chanyeol like it could have been his own. A quick glance down and he can’t even tell where his hips end and where Kyungsoo’s body begins. Kyungsoo’s neck his limp, his head lolling back and forth with every one of Chanyeol’s thrusts. Chanyeol keeps a steady stream of gasps, harsh and wet, into his neck thinking how he should have fucked Kyungsoo ages ago. Should have pinned Kyungsoo down on his mattress and bounced him on his cock until they were both too sore to move.  
  
“I really, really,” Chanyeol groans. It’s hard to concentrate with Kyungsoo’s pleasure flooding into his own brain, but Chanyeol stutters his way through it. “I… really-”  
  
“I get it,” Kyungsoo says and it’s so quiet that Chanyeol can barely hear it above the sound of their skin slapping against each other. “Me too.”  
  
There’s a moment where Chanyeol isn’t sure if he’s heard correctly but Kyungsoo laces their fingers together tight and steady, knotting their words together with simple motion. Chanyeol’s fingers are still slick with lube, but Kyungsoo grips onto him them like a lifeline. His knuckles go white as Chanyeol fucks into him harder.  
  
Chanyeol is dizzy with pleasure. The oxygen can’t reach his body fast enough with the way Kyungsoo dives through him, flooding his body and mind with more pleasure he can handle.  
  
His orgasm hits hard, or maybe it’s Kyungsoo’s orgasm. He can’t tell anymore.  
  
It’s too much. All of Kyungsoo’s thoughts, his pain, his pleasure, everything becomes Chanyeol’s too for that brief instant. His hips stutter, frantic and messy as he rides his orgasm out. Beneath him Kyungsoo is shaking, coming apart as Chanyeol fucks into him one last time.  
  
Everything goes white and when Chanyeol comes to, Kyungsoo is a mess. His hair, damp with sweat falls into his eyes as he looks up at Chanyeol dazed. His hand is limp, resting on Chanyeol’s back, all loose and languid. The cooling come on Kyungsoo’s stomach, dribbles down to sheets as Kyungsoo shifts with a wince. They break apart boneless and spent, but the sensation still has them by the neck, wringing them together.  
  
“God,” Chanyeol groans after a beat. He can’t help the laughter that bubbles up within him, “I think my ass hurts too.”  
  
For a second he thinks Kyungsoo is going to punch him, but all he gets in return is this fond, overbearing look. If Chanyeol had known that Kyungsoo was such a post-coital sap, he would have fucked him long ago. Kyungsoo rolls over gingerly and Chanyeol slides a hand behind the small of his back to scoop him over closer.  
  
Kyungsoo pushes him away. Chanyeol shoots him a confused look before he sees Kyungsoo reaching for the bottle of lube again.  
  
“You didn’t fuck me that hard,” Kyungsoo smirks, shifting over to roll on top of Chanyeol. His finger teases Chanyeol’s entrance. The lube on his finger is so cold and then unbearable hot as it dribbles onto Chanyeol’s ass. “Let me show you how it’s done.”  
  
  
  
  
  
It’s a cold February when Chanyeol finds out that SM the ballad is coming back, but this time without Jinho. It’s an unsurprisingly but still callous slight and it’s what finally gets Chanyeol to pick up his phone, scroll through his contact lists and send out a text he should have sent long ago.  
  
They go to Viva Polo, Chanyeol’s family’s restaurant, to eat.  
  
“My treat”, Chanyeol insists and Jinho accepts his invitation like an apology Chanyeol meant to give anyways. Kyungsoo comes along as well for old time’s sake. Unlike Chanyeol, he’s better about keeping up with old friends like Jinho. Chanyeol still sees him regularly texting Hyunsik and wonders if Kyungsoo has told him anything about Chanyeol.  
  
Jinho arrives early, milling outside the restaurant wrapped in a woolen scarf and heavy coat. He waves, eyes brightening at the sight of Chanyeol.  
  
“Hey,” Chanyeol says slowly. Kyungsoo walks past him to open the door for them both. Jinho walks forward, nodding his thanks to Kyungsoo when he notices that Chanyeol hasn’t budged.  
  
“You don’t have to be like that around me,” Jinho laughs. Chanyeol nods, unsure what else to do. There’s something familiar about being with the two of them, but it all seems so long ago.  
  
It has been two years since EXO has debuted. It makes Chanyeol dizzy to think all that’s transpired since then. From the terrifying debut stage to their breakout song Growl, there’s been so much that’s changed. Chanyeol is older, maybe wiser, better at smiling at the right camera and better at blocking out criticism than before. Jinho is still Jinho.  
  
“I’ve missed you,” he tells Jinho who shakes him off with his usual nonchalance.  
  
“Well we’ve got a lot to catch up on,” Jinho says slowly, sampling the tea with an amused smile. “How have you been?”  
  
There’s no bitterness in his words, there’s never been any bitterness with Jinho. It doesn’t stop Chanyeol from wishing otherwise though. It’s sometimes easier to issue an apology when the wronged party acts like they’re owed one, but Jinho brushes it all under the rug like it’s nothing. Chanyeol thinks of all their training, hours of dance practice and wonders if this is where he would have wanted to end up all along. There are many outlets for making music and becoming an idol is hardly the easiest route to take. At the same time, he’s happy.  
  
They talk for a long time without actually talking.  
  
It’s all meaningless stuff: the weather, SM gossip, their last comeback and the one before that. Chanyeol shouldn’t be surprised. It’s been two years after all and he has no right to feel at a loss when he’s the one that cut Jinho out of his life first.  
  
“How is Chanyeol though, honestly?” Jinho asks when Chanyeol leaves the table to help his mom out with an errand and Kyungsoo lets out a small laugh at that. Craning his neck back, Chanyeol can still faintly make out what they’re saying.  
  
“Why are you asking me?” Kyungsoo points, gesturing to the counter back behind them. He cracks a small smile. “I’m not his mom.”  
  
“True,” Jinho sighs. Even after all this time he still sighs the same way, Chanyeol thinks idly. “But at this point I wouldn’t be surprised if you know him better than his own mom.”  
  
  
  
  
  
Their comeback is confirmed for mid April, just a week after EXO’s 2nd anniversary. The MV is filmed, the teasers are released and then nothing goes right.  
  
There’s nothing they can do about the delay except for watch with bated breath as the rescuers come up empty handed. The government comes up with excuse after excuse and when that fails to appease the public, they turn towards condemnation. Bit by bit, the entire nation shuts down to grieve.  
  
Their comeback is the last thing on Chanyeol’s mind even as Joonmyun dutifully reminds them to take good of themselves. Sehun blinks tears out of his eyes, fingers locked into Zitao’s and they shut off the evening news without so much as glancing at the screen.  
  
Everyone is distracted, ranging from distraught to unresponsive.  
  
Later that evening, Kyungsoo slices his finger wide open on the cutting board when he’s helping prepare dinner. It’s a shallow cut at best, but for some reason there’s blood running everywhere.  
  
“Shit,” Chanyeol hears him curse from the couch and he scrambles up instantly, knocking his laptop down onto the floor as Kyungsoo keeps cursing under his breath. There’s a stinging cut on Chanyeol’s finger and Chanyeol picks up his laptop with a wince. He shuffles in a panic, overturning the contents of the first-aid kit to grab a band-aid.  
  
He turns from there, directly into the kitchen where Kyungsoo is bleeding through the expensive napkins Joonmyun keeps around.  
  
“Oh shit,” Chanyeol says, feeling stupid with the flimsy bandage in his hands. Kyungsoo grimaces. “You’re gonna need stitches for that, huh.”  
  
He looks back down to his own hand, feeling sheepish. The cut on Chanyeol’s hand is no more than an intense paper cut. It oozes a tiny pearl of blood which Chanyeol sucks up with a grimace.  
  
“No stitches,” Kyungsoo sighs. He flicks the blood rushing down his finger with a slight shake of his wrist. “Just give me that, please.”  
  
Chanyeol takes his hand instead and gently curls his fingers in, careful to avoid the blood pouring from the cut.  
  
“Here. Let me,” he says and Kyungsoo nods. He lets Chanyeol pull him into the bathroom where he douses Kyungsoo’s hand in hydrogen peroxide and blows on the cut when Kyungsoo grimaces in pain. The band-aid wraps around Kyungsoo’s forefinger, a mimicry of the band of silver on his other hand.  
  
“This kind of sucks,” Kyungsoo says after a little while. He runs his good hand over Chanyeol’s hurt finger apologetically. He doesn’t meant the cut, but Chanyeol nods. He doesn’t need a soul bond with Kyungsoo to know what’s on his mind.  
  
The entire dorm is at a standstill, at a complete loss to say anything to each other that’ll make the situation better. Yixing wanders around listlessly and Chanyeol finds Lu Han drinking by himself in the kitchen more often than not. Zitao still smiles a lot, but he too paces back and forth with the anticipation of someone who can sense something is wrong. It’s almost too easy to add it all together.  
  
There’s no point delaying the inevitable.  
  
  
  
  
  
Their first concert goes by in a blur.  
  
The Lost Planet doesn’t implode, it revolves around over and over again with the same songs, the same choreography they’ve always known.  
  
Chanyeol goes through the motions, a little mechanical but with as much enthusiasm he can muster at the moment. It’s not hatred he feels, nor is it the same sadness he’s had running in his veins the day he returned late from Roommate filming to find half the dorm silent and weary in response to a missing suitcase and a vindictively empty closet.  
  
But there’s no stopping the concert, life goes on.  
  
Backstage, Baekhyun slumps down looking exhausted.  
  
“Hang in there man,” Jongdae says comfortingly. He leans down to rest his head on Baekhyun’s sweat slicked shoulder, keeping it there until Baekhyun leans back onto him. They slump down together, shoulder to shoulder and Chanyeol slump down next to them. He lets the brief moments of air-conditioning wash over him as he puts a hand on Baekhyun’s other shoulder, and wonders if it feels as heavy to him as it does to Chanyeol.  
  
Yixing’s waist is not good, but his eyes are bright and determined as he removes the heatpack off his skin. Minseok is there before he has to say anything, reaching a hand out to pull him up. Jongin is stretching with Kyungsoo beside him, silently monitoring them all. They’re all quiet, focused and distracted at the same time.  
  
Back outside, the screams erupt from the crowd, loud and fervent and Chanyeol closes his eyes. He lets the cheers flood into him, invigorating him from head to toe. It’s now that he wonders if the screams have always been this loud or if he’s only started listening carefully today. They’ve worked hard to fill in the gaps where they shouldn’t have had to and when it’s all over and done, they bow low and earnest. When they straighten back up, Joonmyun places his mic up to his mouth and Chanyeol shivers. For the first time in a long time their words, repeated so many times that they’ve almost lost their entire meaning, reverberate with conviction.  
  
 _“We are one.”_  
  
The articles tomorrow will mock them for their tears, their belated gestures of sorrow and hurt, but none of it matters. Later that evening, Kyungsoo laces his fingers in with Chanyeol and gives him a solid squeeze. Their hands feel heavy, locked together in a way that’s never felt this organic, so free flowing.  
  
Life goes on.  
  
  
  
  
  
Slowly but surely, the Lost Planet orbits its way over to Hong Kong in the beginning of June.  
  
Their first night goes swimmingly well and the fans there are loud, louder than Chanyeol had imagined possible. The venue is almost half the size of the Seoul Olympic Gymnastic Arena, but all it does is make the cheers of support seem even louder. In the smaller venue, the screams and cheers echo into a fervent typhoon of lights, lights and lights. It grips them in a storm, a whirlwind of enthusiasm and Chanyeol grins into the crowd feeling better than ever.  
  
There’s a malfunction on the second night that send Chanyeol’s heart down through his stomach.  
  
Angel is playing, the backtrack blaringly loud. It’s their song and Chanyeol is smiling into the crowd, waving his arms up when Kyungsoo’s net swings straight into the crowd.  
  
 _They’re going to crush him to death,_  Chanyeol thinks horrified. The net dips again and even with the spotlight glaring into his eyes, Chanyeol can picture Kyungsoo’s wide gaze. The entire stadium is packed, 28,000 fans and counting. An unmanaged airport is enough to put Kyungsoo on edge and they all know firsthand what lengths of hysteria crazed fans are capable of.  
  
The device sways again and Chanyeol stares helplessly as Kyungsoo clings onto the net for dear life. Below Kyungsoo the crowd surges and for a horrifying second Chanyeol realizes that they’re not trying to avoid the falling net, they’re pushing  _towards_  him. It takes a moment for it to sink in that the fans below who were injured in the initial impact are likely getting trampled.  
  
Almost just as suddenly as the net crashed down, it swings back up pulling Kyungsoo back up to safety. He lifts into the air even as Angel keeps playing in the background and Chanyeol’s knees go weak in relief.  
  
Backstage, Chanyeol holds Kyungsoo. They don’t kiss, they don’t hug. All Chanyeol does is place his hands on Kyungsoo’s shoulders like they have all the time in the world.  
  
“Thank god,” he says finally. Kyungsoo nods in agreement. He wipes the sweat off his face with the fresh towel Jongdae handed him earlier.  
  
“I thought you were toast for a second there,” Chanyeol jokes, but he thinks of the fans on the stretchers and stops smiling. Kyungsoo understands though. He locks his fingers with Chanyeol’s and presses his forehead into Chanyeol’s shoulder.  
  
“I’m okay,” Kyungsoo says softly. “I’m okay. I’m right here. I’m fine.”  
  
The lights in the room flicker once, twice. It’s their signal to get back up and continue with the next stage, but Chanyeol doesn’t want to let go.  
  
He grips his fingers into Kyungsoo’s hefty shoulder pads until Kyungsoo himself grabs his hands and pulls them off. Chanyeol stands there for a second, clutching the air in front of him and feeling rather stupid. Kyungsoo motions to the band on his finger, looking at Chanyeol thoughtfully.  
  
“It kept me safe,” he says and Chanyeol’s mouth can’t seem to shut itself properly anymore. “It’s going to keep us both safe.”  
  
  
  
  
  
In comparison to last summer, everything seems to drag by slowly. Each day lasts longer and longer and even worse for Chanyeol are the stretches of time when he can’t see Kyungsoo at all.  
  
They don’t spend as much time together as before with Chanyeol still filming Roommate and Kyungsoo busy with his drama. Chanyeol can be really fucking clingy though and it takes a little bit of self control on his behalf to not spam Kyungsoo’s kaokaotalk with heart stickers all the time.  
  
When the hectic period winds down, they watch the episodes together as a dorm, cackling whenever Kyungsoo’s scenes come up. He’s not a bad actor, a little awkward at first, but Chanyeol would probably enjoy a Korean dub version of Perry the Platypus so as long as Kyungsoo is somewhat involved in it.  
  
Kyungsoo looks good bruised up and it’s only the lack of similar bruises on Chanyeol’s own skin that keeps him from feeling too overprotective. Kyungsoo’s character is young, vulnerable in all the ways Chanyeol knows the real Kyungsoo isn’t, but the episode where Kyungsoo cries gets to him a little before it’s ruined by the sound of Baekhyun snapping photos with his phone.  
  
“You could probably find those online,” Sehun says idly, seemingly unaffected. Baekhyun grins. He snaps a few more unflattering photos and from his angle, Chanyeol can see that he’s already picking out filters to slap over them.  
  
“It’s all in the moment,” Baekhyun says with a proud flourish. The picture he takes of Kyungsoo’s face, scrunched up and teary with his mouth half open, becomes his lock screen for two solid weeks until Kyungsoo comes home and chokes him into changing it.  
  
Being the great friends they are, Baekhyun begs for mercy before he turns permanently blue, and then promptly changes his text tone to Kyungsoo’s teary ‘author-nim’ plea. In retaliation, Kyungsoo coaxes Jongdae into making a fancam compilation of Baekhyun imitating a slip and slide waterpark during his musical and plays it on their dorm TV every evening for a week.  
  
“That’s just cruel,” Baekhyun whines as onscreen Baekhyun’s ass meets the floor with another wet squelch. “If you like watching my ass get beat, you might as well have spanked me.”  
  
He waggles his brows suggestively but Kyungsoo simply walks past him whistling the theme of Singing in the Rain under his breath. Prank wars, or whatever this strange diffusion of sexual tension is, between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo never last long. Unlike the prank war, singular, between Baekhyun and Jongdae that has gone on since debut era and gets picked up every time Jongdae lands in Incheon Airport ready to resume battle.  
  
The one between Baekhyun and Kyungsoo in comparison is short-lived when Baekhyun wins, by a total landslide he insists, after he publishes an article about the many charms of Do Kyungsoo complete with testimonies from various male fanboys found on Pann.  
  
The article reaches 70,000 hits by sunset and Baekhyun prints out a copy of it to wave around like a victory flag as he prances around the dorm. Kyungsoo is livid, but he fakes an uninterested smile in the face of Baekhyun’s jubilee in the way he knows it’ll annoy Baekhyun the most.  
  
“It’s not that bad,” Jongdae says, scrolling through with a hesitant laugh. He pauses, squinting a little. “Wow this guy sounds like just like Chanyeol.”  
  
“It probably  _is_  Chanyeol,” Baekhyun snickers. He gives his papery flag a triumphant wave, shooting Chanyeol a salute.  
  
“Guilty as charged,” Chanyeol admits bowing his head in mock shame as Kyungsoo narrows his eyes, betrayed. He’s got nothing left. Baekhyun is grinning from ear to ear so sure of his victory when Kyungsoo opens his mouth and spoils the ending of ‘It’s okay. That’s love” for them all.  
  
“Author-nim,” Baekhyun says after a moment, scandalized. Kyungsoo opens his mouth to retaliate and then looks remorseful as if he’s just realized what he’s done.  
  
“But why?” Jongdae interjects, sounding teary. Kyungsoo turns away so fast his bangs flip to the side.  
  
“But,” Chanyeol tacks on, hounding Kyungsoo from the other side. This time, Kyungsoo has no qualms about pushing him away roughly. He’s always been nicer to Jongdae.  
  
“Stop it,” Kyungsoo says, sounding bored. The panic in his eyes is almost funny.  
  
“So is your character real or not?” Jongdae whines, tugging at his sleeve. Kyungsoo blinks, face devoid of any emotions but that in itself gives the answer away.  
  
“Go away,” Kyungsoo groans. His tone is light, but Chanyeol sees his fist clenched in preparation as Baekhyun wisely slinks out of the room.  
  
“But author-nim,” Chanyeol whines mock-wounded. Kyungsoo grimaces shoving him away again. Jongdae takes the interruption as a chance to pull up images of Kyungsoo’s crying face.  
  
“Will you guys quit it?” he says, batting Jongdae’s phone away before the image manages to load. “I’m done spoiling you guys. Sorry.”  
  
“But I need to know,” Jongdae says completely serious. “It’s going to kill me.”  
  
“Too bad,” Kyungsoo mutters, crossing his arms with a note of finality.  
  
“BUT AUTHOR-NIM!!” Baekhyun shouts from outside the room and Kyungsoo’s neck snaps up like a switchblade.  
  
“I’ll be back,” he says quietly as Jongdae cackles a well-timed “hasta la vista.” Chanyeol sinks back into the couch, keeping an eye on his own knuckles as Baekhyun starts warbling for help.  
  
  
  
  
  
It’s strangely hard keeping up with Kyungsoo who walks at a brisk pace from one place to another.  
  
Ironically, Chanyeol’s superior stride leaves him at a disadvantage in the crowded streets where Kyungsoo can shuffle along to the flow of traffic easily. Chanyeol loses him on their way to the regular cafe they frequent, but it's not worrisome. They've got managers shadowing them and then beyond that, they’ve got a few bodyguards rounding up the rear in the most inconspicuous way as possible.  
  
Chanyeol takes his sweet time. By the time he's reached the cafe, Kyungsoo is finished ordering for them both. Chanyeol finds the quietest corner of the café and sits down, pushing his shades back up his nose.  
  
Kyungsoo finds him easily, balancing both drinks in hand.  
  
“Which one do you want?” he asks, holding out both cups at once. Chanyeol sticks his head forward, feeling the sweat trickle down his neck. Without a word, he grabs both straws and shoves them into his mouth, ignoring Kyungsoo’s scandalized look.  
  
“Both,” he mumbles past the straws and Kyungsoo watches him choke on the drinks with an almost fond smile. He's beginning to spoil Chanyeol these days.  
  
  
  
  
  
Two weeks later, Chanyeol is the one grabbing drinks from the kitchen when he trips over himself in his eagerness to make it back to the livingroom and stubs his toe in the doorframe, hard. Without a second thought, he limps awkwardly back into the kitchen to fetch ice bags for two.  
  
It’s officially date night with the dorm empty save for the two of them. By some blessing from above, Baekhyun and Joonmyun are off rehearsing for Inkigayo while Sehun and Jongin are off filming for Running Man with Taemin.  
  
Kyungsoo is already on the couch, foot propped up on the coffee table, waiting for him when he enters. He holds his hand out expectantly, palm up, and never the one to disappoint, Chanyeol produces both ice bags with a flourish.  
  
Chanyeol settles down next to him and props his foot up too. Chanyeol’s leg is much longer, resting almost in the middle of the table while Kyungsoo’s is barely dangling on the edge, but they make it work, sandwiching the icebags between them.  
  
“Ouch,” Kyungsoo comments dryly, eyeing the tip of Chanyeol’s abused toe. The tip is starting to purple, but at least there’s no blood. Chanyeol has had enough blood spilled between the two of them since the start of this whole crazy, soul-bonding process.  
  
“Yeah, ouch to you too,” Chanyeol laughs, leaning his weight back on Kyungsoo’s arm. The August afternoon is warm and lazy. Behind them the shadows cast from the blinds stretch across the room, tinting them both in off-color stripes.  
  
“Are we good to go?” Kyungsoo asks softly tapping the remote, and from this angle the shadow of his nose curves around his cheek. Chanyeol lets his eyes slide across his features, drinking in the sight.  
  
There’s nothing all too remarkable about Kyungsoo, but then there suddenly is. His round eyes, his comically expressive eyebrows, the smooth slope of his cheek down to his full lips. All of it builds together, piece by piece, into the person Chanyeol has grown to love. If Chanyeol is EXO’s wildfire, burning away misconceptions and hesitation then there’s no other person he wants more by his side than Kyungsoo who is his rock, a solid surface for Chanyeol to cling to when he has nothing else.  
  
“Yeah,” Chanyeol breaths back, more at peace than ever.  
  
It’s a quiet afternoon, no hectic schedules no crazy bandmates scrambling over each other for tubes of eyeliner and bathroom time. It’s like someone has pressed pause in the midst of their crazy lives and allowed Chanyeol and Kyungsoo to finally breathe. For just a moment, they’ve escaped into a space tucked behind all the stage lights and photoshopped smiles. It’s just Chanyeol and Kyungsoo on a couch, so ordinary and normal that Chanyeol feels like he’s woken up in an alternate version of the world.  
  
In that world, maybe he and Kyungsoo meet in college, date for several months and are in love like always. It’s amusing to play out in his mind. Chanyeol wants to entertain all these flights of fancy, wants to share every memory, fake or real, he has with Kyungsoo when they have the time. For now though, they’re hidden away in their own universe, burning brightly like two stars that have spent every night crossing each other’s paths until now.  
  
It’s nothing cosmic what they’re doing, but from Chanyeol’s exposure to EXO for the past two years he’s learned two things.  
  
Planets are no different than people.  
  
Two beings, 11 beings, it doesn’t matter. No planet is truly lonely. The galaxy is vast, far too large and full of wonder to be spent as a lone entity. Sure, some get lost in orbit and drift off into the self-dedicated path they choose, but the ones that have the gravity, the will to stay together, do.  
  
The second thing is that there just happens to be an irresistible pull, something more addictive than the roaring cheers and flashing lights of a stage that brings Chanyeol back to Kyungsoo each time. It’s senseless, consuming, and altogether inexplicable with the way it bonds them to each other, again and again. But gravity, after all, is nothing more than an attraction and Chanyeol will gladly let himself orbit in any path Kyungsoo traverses.  
  
It’s so quiet in the dorm. Beyond the white noise of the television, Chanyeol can hear Kyungsoo’s soft exhales, the languid beating of his own heart, and the soft slide of fabric between them as Chanyeol loops his arm around Kyungsoo, anchoring him to his side. Kyungsoo in turn leans back into him, breathing out a content sigh as Chanyeol plucks the remote from him and presses play.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Timeline for Reference:
> 
> Pre-Debut:  
> 2008: Park Chanyeol joins SM Entertainment  
> 2010: Do Kyungsoo joins SM Entertainment  
> 2010, November 28th: SM the Ballad debuts the first time with SHINee’s Jonghyun, TRAX’s Jay, Super Junior’s Kyuhyun and of course, everyone’s beloved basement oppa Cho Jinho.  
> 2011, December 22nd: The first of many Kai teasers are released  
> 2011, December 29th: The first four EXO members: Kai, Chen, Lu Han and Tao are unveiled to the public at SBS’s annual Gayo Daejun.
> 
> 2012-2013:  
> 2012, April 8th: EXO debuts  
> 2012, April 13th: EXO-K’s shaky live performance of MAMA later dubbed Friday the 13th  
> 2012, December 29th: EXO attends SBS Gayo Daejun
> 
> 2013, February 27th: Demo Wolf leaks, relive the greatness  
> 2013, June 13th: EXO's first win with Wolf on Music Bank  
> 2013, August 1st: Growl is released and EXO’s pop up store ‘Boy Who Cried Wolf’ opens. Chanyeol plays the soulmate game  
> 2013, October 16th: Chanyeol films for Law of the Jungle in Micronesia  
> 2013, November 22nd: EXO wins Album of the Year from MAMA 2013, Kyungsoo twists his ankle during the stage performance  
> 2013, December 9th: Miracles in December begin promotions
> 
> 2014:  
> 2014, February 3rd: SM the Ballad announces a comeback with Vol 2 and a different line up.  
> 2014, February 3rd: Alleged fanaccount/signature proof that Jinho, Kyungsoo and Chanyeol went to go eat at Viva Polo (restaurant owned by Chanyeol’s family)  
> 2014, May 15th: Reports of Wu Yifan leaving EXO are released  
> 2014, May 23rd: The Lost Planet Concerts begins in Seoul's Olympic Gymnastic Arena  
> 2014, June 2nd: A technical error sends Kyungsoo’s net down into the crowd below injuring two fans in Hong Kong's Asia World Arena  
> 2014, July 23rd: Kyungsoo’s drama, “It’s okay, it’s love” begins airing  
> 2014, August 6th: This lovely article pops up on the internet (not quite by Byun Baekhyun, but still)  
> 2014, August 16th: Jongin and Sehun film for Running Man with SHINee's Taemin
> 
> last notes: phew, this is the longest fic i've written to date! thank you to e for keeping me on track as always even as summer was winding down and i had no clue where this fic was going and to b who is my endgame like always for holding my hand through this like a true chingu <3 thank you so much!


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